What does it mean to walk victoriously? Everybody savors the mouth-watering taste of victory. We do everything we can to keep the sourness of defeat at bay, and rightly so. Triumph is delicious, especially when it comes right after hard work and self-sacrificing labor. People who have striven to succeed relish the win. Consider Michael Phelps who won eight gold medals at the last Olympic games. He made history and his name became something of a worldwide phenomenon. He became an instant success, or did he?
To those of us who had not heard his name before his world-record win, it would seem as if his success was instantaneous; but it was not. He had been practicing for years. He had spent countless hours in the pool, year after year. The water was his workplace because it was in there that he forged the stamina, gusto, and precision that catapulted him to worldwide victory in the 2008 Olympics. He would enter the not-so-warm waters of the pool before the crack of dawn while most of us were still asleep, and he would practice. Living the Christian life takes practice. It takes consistency, resiliency, humility, and utter dependence on Deity.
People often shy away from consistency when they embark on a new discipline. The newness alone often creates tension, and they struggle with the fatigue and failure that naturally ensues when one begins to engage in something new, be it a job, a hobby, or an assignment. Betterment takes practice. Anything that is not habitual will require your willingness to stay the course. You cannot gain competence at something you have only practiced a few times. Competent people work consistently in their field. They are forever finding ways to polish their skills. They don’t plateau; they always seek to become better and they weather setbacks with unflinching courage.
Perseverance is the key to triumph-in any endeavor (Luke 21:19; Rom 2:6-7; 8:25; 15:4-5). No one becomes successful overnight; and if anyone does, he should seek wise counsel because maintaining that success without the lessons learned in the arena of difficulty may make the triumph short-lived. In the Christian arena, only those who know how to get up again and again will have victory. Everyone will stumble, even with the best intentions. We do not live to sin but we sin in the process of living. As we embrace each day, we encounter things that may be very hard to endure. Hardships such as pain, rejection, misfortune, deception, deceit, and false accusations can bombard us and cause us to erect walls around our heart. We may say, “Lord, I forgive so-and-so,” and for the most part, we intend to mean it. But, every time we think of what the person did to us, fresh resentment may poke its head; or we may find that the pain resurfaces whenever we see the individual. This is an indicator that all is not well. Unforgiveness can weasel its way through the pores of your heart and steal your victory. However, with perseverance, you can climb atop the Mount Everest of unforgiveness, doubt, fear, lack, rejection, or pain that has you limping.
When we see people with physical impediments, we tend to feel sorry for them or we quickly look in the opposite direction for fear we will embarrass them should we offer them eye contact. What they would probably prefer, however, is a friendly smile. Try doing that the next time you pass someone in the mall who wobbles as he walks, or stop and say hello to the guy dripping with sweat under the blazing summer sun as he gathers wayward shopping carts in the cluttered parking lot of Wal-Mart. You will find that many of the people, whose physical appearance is marred, persevere from day to day without allowing their impediment to impede their will. We need to muster the determination to will-the will to do what needs to be done, however painstaking, day after day. It is O.K. to limp, hobble, wobble, or drag along slowly as long as that is the best you can do and you maintain victory in view.
There are two factors that constitute having and maintaining victory: you must determine to rise up every time you fall and you must learn from former mistakes so as not to repeat them. The wise person seeks to learn and grow regardless of how dismal his circumstance may appear. You grit the teeth of your heart and say, “There is no giving up, no way!” Victorious people have a warrior spirit. They know how to face the enemy and fight to the end (Eph 6:10-18). Sometimes-maybe most of the times, the biggest enemy is our flesh. Why? Ultimately, only we can control ourselves. People may do things to hurt us but how we react and the perspective we maintain in the midst of the injustice will determine how we fare. We have to resist the temptation to fight back with vengeance or to wield the sword of retaliation. We have to maintain self-control. Containing oneself is more difficult than readily doing what one wills. There are times when you may want to lash out at the offender but you choose to hold your peace. How often you may be tempted to question the incredulity of words being spoken, but you decide to be silent. Self-control is much a part of securing victory in one’s life (2 Tim 1:7; Gal 5:22-23). With the conscious decision to harness one’s will comes the need for balance. Doing what needs to be done regardless of one’s present emotional status guarantees victory. Every successful person knows that being balanced and consistent will help him maintain victory. The Christian life cannot be lived well unless you are practicing the disciplines of spiritual growth. It is the doing that bears the heavyweight title. We have to do what God says in order to have victory. We cannot take short cuts when we want to get to know God more deeply. It takes pursuing Him, loving Him, wanting Him, and knowing Him-to have victory in Him. Walking in victory is the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29; 12:1-2). When we are transformed we reflect God’s beauty and likeness; we become what He intended before Adam sinned in the Garden. This is why the Cross is so powerfully effective. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ enables us to regain our beauty that had been marred by sin. His blood, being spilled out, did not stain but became a permanent bleaching agent that takes away our filth and makes us clean before God (Rev 7:14). Nothing else could give us victory (Rev 12:11). Nothing else could suffice. Nothing else could bring the joy and peace that keep us in the midst of a tumultuous world. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us new birth (1 Pet 1:3). We join together and sing praises to God because we know that we are victorious in Him (Rom 15:6).
When Satan attempts to fool you into thinking you are defeated, you have only to look to the Cross (Heb 12:1-4; 1 Cor 1:18). Jesus did not die in vain. Let the Cross of Christ be in your life what God, before time, preordained it to be (Titus 1:1-3 ). Let it be the mark of redemption, justification, and sanctification (1 Cor 1:30-31).