1 Corinthians 9-10: Competition

Honestly, I will never get caught up on the readings if I keep writing multiple blogs for the same reading.

Whatever.

After an entire debate season talking about whether "competition or cooperation is a superior means of achieving excellence," I can't pass up this passage.

Generally speaking, while I am not opposed to competition, I think the Bible favors cooperation.
(Think of all the passages about sharing, about self-sacrifice, about laying our lives down for one another.)

And here we come across this passage about running a race.

Paul writes, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

Okay, this does not mean that if I win the prize, you don't. Or vice-verse.

It merely means that in the world, if we're running a race, we make winning the race a priority. We train for it. We sacrifice to make our bodies ready to run. We give up foods that get in the way of maximum body performance. We set aside anything that gets in the way of our training. That gets in the way of running the race.

And we keep my eye on the prize.
Our efforts in training and in running are focused on the goal.

First: What is the prize?
A crown that will last forever. Fellowship with God. Sharing the joy of the Lord with others. A life of significance.

Nothing is more important than Jesus.
Nothing is more important than following him and serving Him.

"For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that they may be saved." (1 Corinthians 10:33b)