My wife and I attended the Troy University men’s basketball game in Troy, Alabama on February 1. They played Louisiana-Monroe. Troy lead 50 to 15 at the half and won 87-50. They were more than winners.
Likewise, we can be more than winners in life. We get through our trials, struggles, and opposition relieved, rejoicing, and confident. Why is it as followers of Jesus Christ we feel and think of ourselves as victims instead of triumphant victors? You might be asking yourself that question. How does God make us more than winners?
God makes us more than winners by pointing us to what he did in and through his Son Jesus Christ. God demonstrates his love to us, he fills us with his love, and he keeps us by his love. God’s love is stronger than anything in the world. Love changes our hearts. The apostle John highlighted this change: “We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers…We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 3:13, 4:19) This change may have been a slight one, at first, but God wants it to grow into a way of life.
God demonstrates his love to us in a special way. Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There are many small ways to demonstrate love, but there is a much more powerful act of love. Sacrifice is the ultimate demonstration of love. God shows his love by Christ dying for us.
James LaBelle turned 19 when he stormed the beach on Iwo Jima on March 8, 1945. He survived the invasion and later his platoon was tasked with taking Nishi Ridge. While keeping watch with two buddies in a foxhole, James shouted, “Incoming grenade,” and instantly dove on it to protect them. He paid the ultimate price to save his buddies. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Christ gave his life for us. He took the blast of God’s judgment for our sins on the cruel cross that we might not die for our sins but receive eternal life. God relentlessly reminds us of Christ’s sacrificial love to make us more than winners.
God also fills us with his love. The Bible says, “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:4) Our hearts are like cups. We can fill them with many kinds of things: pornography, drugs, alcohol, pride, arrogance, material things, and hatred. What ways do you try to fill your heart?
God wants to fill our hearts with divine love. Filled means filled; not half full or half empty. I periodically ask myself, “Jud, what are you trying to fill your heart with?” We turn daily to Christ to fill us over and over again with love. Asking God to fill us makes us more than winners.
Third, God’s love never stops holding us. Romans 8:35 asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The answer is found in verse 37. It is clear and simple: “No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Verse 39 emphatically states that nothing can separate us from God’s love. You will doubt the ability to hold onto God all the time. Christ doesn’t doubt his ability to hold onto us even when we’ve lost our grip.
Jesus called his people sheep. He said he holds them in his hand, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) To make sure we understand what he meant, he told the audience, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (10:29-30) We are more than winners because God holds us today and for eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. Trust him to keep his hold on you in the heat of battle.
Many people believe God is love. Where did they get this idea? The Bible says so. “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). We use this truth, however, to claim that nothing bad should happen to us. If God is love, then God should always do good to us. If God is love, then bad things shouldn’t happen to us.
This logic sounds right, but it fails to take into consideration the reality of evil in the world and in human hearts. Let’s look at Romans 8:31— “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Who can be against you and me? Sometimes it’s ourselves.
I conducted a friend’s memorial service. His son was my son’s best friend. The widow asked me to share how her husband had emotionally abused her and the children and had asked for forgiveness before dying.
I honored her request, but I didn’t tell the relatives in advance. I broadsided them in public. They heard me talk about their loved one’s abuse and repentance, but all they heard was abuse. His repentance didn’t register. I embarrassed them so much, they rejected me. They left the church. Nothing I said to them after the service changed their minds. I viewed myself as a failure. I didn’t feel God’s love.
A short time later after the service, I met with a Christian counselor, and unbeknownst to me, he was the same counselor the widow visited. He knew about the deceased, the abuse, reconciliation, and the fallout from the service. This was evidence God’s love still held me. Would I think of myself as a victim? With God’s help, I learned valuable lessons to make me better. You can overcome disappointing experiences to be more than a winner.
Paul used a very special word in Romans 8:37 that means ‘more than winners.’ Most English translations translate the word as ‘more than conquerors.’ One expert described the special word’s meaning as, “A victory which is more than a victory.” The Eagles overwhelmed the Chiefs until the fourth quarter and became more than winners in a 40-22 Superbowl win.
We are more than winners because God’s love strengthens us through faith in Jesus Christ and by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We don’t run from our trials and hardships. We face them and endure them.
The shepherd boy David became more than a winner. Israel’s army and king were terrified by their enemy’s special weapon—Goliath. David volunteered to fight him (1 Samuel 17). The dual was a mismatch because Goliath was a seasoned warrior and a giant. Just his appearance frightened opposing warriors.
David’s shepherding experiences gave him confidence that God would give him victory. He used a special weapon Goliath didn’t expect—a slingshot. David ran toward Goliath, swung the sling, and fired a rock into the giant’s forehead and he fell dead. David became more than a winner. Israel rejoiced in his stunning victory.
The apostle John wrote, “Now has come the salvation and the power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their own lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:10-11)
Our allegiance to Jesus Christ will be tested to the limits. God’s love strengthens us by pointing us to Christ’s sacrificial death, filling our hearts with love, and keeping hold of us in the worst of circumstances. This winning love is written on the pages of human history.
My relative, George Stone, served in the Persian Gulf as a new and young missionary in 1898-1899. He took an assignment in Muscat, Oman to oversee a rescued slave boys school with eighteen young African boys. George’s health failed and yet he stayed on the job until his replacement arrived. Two weeks later, George died from his illness. He didn’t leave the boys to save his life. (see A Modest But Crucial Hero, 2023)
The love of Jesus Christ gives us strength to live and die for him. He promises us a winner’s crown and eternal life. The old gospel song Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus might say it best:
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus,
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle—
The next, the victor’s song.
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be:
He with the King of Glory
Shall reign eternally.