1 Corinthians 9.24 encourages running to win.

What are you competing for? At what are you trying to win? The most powerful title at the company? More money than your neighbor? The biggest house on your block?

God wants us to win in this life but not at any of these things that pagan men pursue. God wants us to win at the work of fishing for men.

Those who are part of the Church are in a world-wide fishing contest. The fish are all those people ignorant and disobedient to God in Jesus Christ.

The Christian is to do everything in his power to persuade these people to repent from their evil doing and to follow Jesus as Savior while helping them grow in their obedience to Him as Lord.

When Paul encourages the Church to run to win it is this very work he is imploring them to engage with all their effort.

To be successful he reminds them they will have to discipline themselves like the Olympic athlete whose sole focus is winning their event through discipline and practice.

For the Church to be successful in its mission it cannot be engaged in worldly pursuits. We cannot love God and money; we cannot seek our best life now while working for others to receive eternal life tomorrow.

To win the world to Christ we must deny ourselves and engage daily with people distant from Him in order to help them come to love Him as we love Him.

Winning is not a problem for God; the issue for God is what are His people seeking to win?