Webster’s dictionary defines a champion as one who fights for a cause and wins.  Champions are fighters and not quitters.  Champions have learned how to go the distance no matter what obstacles they encounter.  Champions confront and conquer.  Champions are unstoppable.  Champions have something down deep within them that pushes them forward.  They get back up every time they are knocked down and they are the last one standing at the sound of the bell.

The Apostle Paul was a champion.  He endured much suffering all because of what he believed in.  Once he saw the light, he became a champion for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He was stoned, ship wrecked, betrayed, imprisoned time and time again.  He almost lost his life on the sea several times but yet, he continued to share the gospel.  He was willing and eventually did, give his life for what he believed and the most remarkable thing about him is his faith grew.  Paul could have quit.  He could have convinced himself that it was too hard to continue but he did neither one.  Paul perservered and in his own words he ‘fought the good fight of faith.’  Paul’s focus was on pleasing God more than on his own safety or comfort.  His testimony is one that should inspire every believer to hold steady so that they, too, will inherit the promises of God.

Do you realize that God created you to be a champion?  God put part of Himself, the Holy Spirit, inside of you so that you could win the race of life, and if God be for you, who can be against you?  Understand that you do not become a champion by accident.  Champtions are made.  They train themselves and make the sacrifices required so that they become the last man standing.  Because you have what it takes, it does not pease God if you were to quit, give up or shrink back.  You are destined to finish your course but you, like Paul, must fight the good fight of faith.  Is it easy? No, but your prize will be well worth it.  Champions are not perfect, they even make mistakes but the one thing that causes them to stand out in a crowd is their determination and their belief that they can and will win. Champions will make a mistake; they will make a bad decision; they will not see everything work out as they would like them to but they keep on keeping on. Their faith in God is their motivating factor.    They know where their strength ends and where God’s power begins.  Champions are not afraid of the fight because they know that the battle belongs to God.

Are your living a champion lifestyle?  Do you have that passion and drive within you to keep fighting the good fight of faith until you have finished your course?  If your answer is no, I encourage you to read and meditate on the Word of God and learn from those men and women who confronted, fought and conquered their enemy.  Spend time alone with God and ask Him to help you do what you are unable to do alone.  God loves you with an everlasting love and He wants you to experience the love of a Father that will carry you through this life and the life to come.  Keep fighting, finish your course until the day you hear ‘well done thy good and faithful servant.’