Winning

...it might be possible one is watching toooo much TV when you start having "deep" thoughts brought on by commercials.... BUT, here goes:

At the end of a Gatorade commercial the words "win from within" flashed up on screen. I'm sure that was partly because, well, one generally DRINKS Gatorade, and therefor it is inside you ... Or something like that...

It was also because unlike the motivation my school kiddos find when I bribe the with candy ... uh, I mean, when I provide them with an incentive... the motivation, drive, passion it takes to succeed at sports has to come from inside you. If you are in sports, or exercise with only external motivation, you won't get far. A parent can only push you so far, a coach or trainer can only encourage to a point, a buddy can only provide so much. Everything else, the strength to keep pushing when things get tough, has to come from within you ... And often you have to dig pretty deep for it!

Often times we want the easy solution - it's why we diet before beginning to exercise. It's why diets fail. It's why exercise doesn't last. Because, when you're in it for easy solutions and fast results and then the results don't come quickly and the results prove to be short term we lose our motivation because those things are EXternal. We succeed only when we find the internal motivation to keep going through plateaus, losses, disappointments... We win from within.

(Okay, okay, Im getting to the "deep" thought ... Don't rush me...)

Isn't it the same with our spiritual selves?! Parents can only push so far. A preacher or teacher can only encourage to a point, friends and family can only provide so much. Everything else, the strength to keep pushing when things get tough, has to come from within you ... And often you have to dig VERY deep for it.

Whether its making time to study on a busy, hard day, or standing up to peer pressure and doing the right thing even when it's hard, or going to church even when your exhausted, or standing up for God when it may feel difficult or scary ... Whatever the situation, it is often hard to be the Christians we need to be. No amount of candy bribes (or other forms of external motivation) are going to pull us through on this one folks. If we don't have the willpower inside of us (and if we aren't praying for a little more strength and wisdom every day), we aren't going to make it. W have to win from within. With lots of help from God. With lots of help from Christian friends and family to build what is inside us.

And you winning from within? Am I? Or do we find ourselves waiting or external motivation to strike us? Waiting for a friend to pull us along? Waiting for it to be easy? Just like anything else, we get out of serving God only what we put in to it ... So we have to put the best we have to give, from the deepest part of ourselves into serving God. :)

(...aaaaannnddd that is 2 posts in 1 day folks. Hope you don't mind reading...)