I recently read a great book called “Finishing Strong” by Steve Farrar. It really makes no difference how you start in life, what really matters is how you finish.
Do you have the courage and tenacity to finish strong? Many people start out in life moving forward living for God but for many reasons many don’t finish strong for God. God doesn’t care what you have done in your past, he cares about what you are going to do right now this minute. He cares that you are growing towards him. When you grow spiritually, it makes you want to finish strong.
There are several reasons men don’t finish strong, 1) Money, 2) Another Woman, 3) Neglected Family & 4) Addictions.
You can really say that neglected family happens no matter what the other root is and usually some kind of addiction is the root cause to any of the reasons.
Think about this, EGO is usually a cause of adultery. EGO is an addiction. It is an addiction of self. It is something that if you don’t keep it in check it will destroy you and your family.
Ego can also be the cause of falling where money is concerned but so can addictions. Again, addictions are the root cause to every failure. I have thought about this a lot and I haven’t found any circumstance where some kind of addiction wasn’t the root cause.
When I say failure, I am not talking about business or personal finance here even though you could still plug that in. I am talking about failure as a husband or as a dad. Failure in your walk with Christ. Failure in your Character. Things that really matter at your core. Money doesn’t really matter at your core or at least not for most people.
Yes I know there are some people who believe that money is their core but I am not talking about that here. My whole point here is to help you see that you can finish strong even if up until this point you have been a failure in the core areas.
Christ can transform you from the man you are today into the man God wants you to be tomorrow. Don’t listen to satan as he is probably telling you that you don’t deserve to be transformed. YES YOU DO! God understands that we all fall short of his glory and that’s why he will forgive you right this minute if you will just ask him back into your heart and for his forgiveness!
Yes going for the long haul in life is tough but God never said it would be easy. It’s not easy and that’s why most don’t finish strong. Life happens when we are pursuing God daily. The question becomes will we still pursue him even when things go south because it’s easy to praise him when life is good.
You may be at your lowest but if you have God then you are actually at your highest! I know people that when you look at them on the surface they look like they have it all together but when you get to know them they are very sad in life and just really don’t care about what’s truly important. They have an empty feeling and it’s all because they don’t have a personal relationship with God.
I also look at others who on the surface their life looks like it is falling apart but they still live boldly for God no matter what and they have a peace in them like you have never seen. It is calming when you are around them. This peace comes because of the personal relationship they have with God.
God wants this personal relationship with you so he can be there with you through the good, the bad and the ugly. God never promised that he would take all bad things away but he did promise that he would be there with you through them if you just seek him.
What is holding you back? I am sure you are scared but don’t be. You can finish strong for God without being perfect. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He expects us to be obedient and when we fall we dust ourselves off and move forward in Faith again.
So drop to your knees and ask Christ to purify your heart right now. Ask him to come back into your life and give you the conviction that you once had. Ask him to help you see the future he wants for you and ask him to guide you through your dark path that you may be in right now. Let him know that since he had the courage to die on the cross for you that you will have the courage to live for him!
Now go out with boldness and follow where you already knew God was leading you but this time make it last for the rest of your life! RENEW your spirit from this point everyday.
Be Inspired or Be Left Behind!
Chris Benton