Qualities of Winners

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 

Winners are encouragers. In Jeremiah 38, four evil men threw Jeremiah into a pit because of his righteous stand. But it is interesting that later in the same chapter, when Jeremiah was pardoned, the king said, “Take with you 30 men and go get Jeremiah out of the pit.” It takes more people to get a person out of a pit than to get into a pit.

Which group do you fall in? Do you encourage people when they are down? Anybody can be negative, find fault, criticize, and gossip about people for their failures. But it takes a special person to reach out a hand and say, “I’m going to help you get out of this pit you are in.” When you encounter someone who is down, you need to remind them that down is not their destiny. You need to tell them they were born to win. 

Jeremiah 12 says, “If you run with the footmen and they weary you, how will you contend with the horses?” In Biblical times, there were foot soldiers and horsemen. Horsemen were harder to combat because they had an advantage. In that verse, God said that the footman level is not where He has called you to live. He has called you to bigger things. You have no idea how great your future is, and if you’re giving up on little footmen, you won’t be able to handle the big things He wants to entrust you with. 

The second-quality winners have laser-sharp focus. Paul said, “This is the one thing I do: I reach for the prize of the high calling.” He was saying, “I have a destiny, and I can’t let all of these worldly things distract me.” What are you focusing on? The Bible says, “For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross.” When He was being trampled and spit on, He carried the cross and stayed the course. Jesus wasn’t listening to every criticism and lie being told about Him because He could picture the joy that was coming- the resurrection. We have to keep our focus on what God deems important and let the rest fade into the background.

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