Victorious Christian living is not happenstance. It’s not incidental to becoming a Christian. You can’t get there by osmosis. But a sure fire way does exist for realizing a victorious Christian life.
What does it mean to live a victorious Christian life? This kind of life is characterized by living each day by faith in God. As Paul the apostle writes, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, KJV). A victorious Christian life also requires us to allow the Word of God to be the fuel that drives our life daily.
But how does one arrive at this victorious place in his Christian life? Perhaps every local church has some members who seem to never grow in Christ. Or they live too much of their life in a state or attitude of defeat.
Disciplines for a Victorious Christian Life
No bona fide believer can justify living a defeated or mediocre life. In this post, I will share three steps to realizing a victorious Christian life. These points were drawn from a few verses found in the book of Hebrews.
1. Lay aside every weight and sin that so easily entangles you (Hebrews 12:1a, NASB). The writer compares the Christian journey to running a race. A runner can’t run his best race when he is unnecessarily weighted down.
The same applies to our Christian journey. Note that this verse refers to weights and sin. For instance, spending excessive time on social media or literal socializing do not necessarily constitute sin. But they can be weights that negatively affect us. We must forsake sinful habits and those other things that weigh us down if we want to live a victorious Christian life.
2. Run with endurance the race that is set before you (Hebrew 12:1b). Successfully running a race requires the ability to go the distance. This ability requires endurance. Runners prepare themselves for competition by increasing the distance they run so they can build the necessary endurance for the race.
Similarly, the Christian journey is like winning a race. Finishing it requires enduring the challenges and opposition involved. But how do we build the needed endurance? In his epistle, James tells us that the testing of our faith produces endurance (Jamess 1:3, NASB). That’s one reason God allows us to be tested in this life.
Each time you endure the rigor of a test, it increases your endurance to go the required distance of the journey before you.
3. Look to Jesus the author and finisher of your faith (verse 2). We must stay focused upon Jesus. He is our perfect example. While on earth, He modeled the victorious Christian life. As His disciples, we are to be followers of Him and not of anyone else. We can learn from others. We can all benefit from good mentors in our life. But we must do these things looking to Jesus:
“Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
(Hebrews 12:3, NASB)
The good news is that every believer can develop the disciplines listed above. Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin. In Him, we have everything pertaining to life and godliness. Through these, we have what it takes to live a victorious Christian life.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.