No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Phil. 3:13-14 NLT)
Fight and stand firm in your desires to do right because your adversary, the devil, is waiting to destroy your self-esteem and steal your hope for success. Put up your guard or put up your fists and give the enemy no room to muddle your mind or cause you to have a defeatist attitude. If you fail to make wise choices, but somewhere along the way you can identify the trigger or the spark that caused you to fall, then you have failed forward. Fight on! You might not succeed to stay within your boundaries to combat poor spending habits, to combat extra glances at the porn advertisement, or to combat unplanned overeating. However, if your failure drives you to do better the next time, then you have failed forward. Each time you make a mistake, and you get up and fight again, you have failed forward.
Everyone fails sometimes, but winners keep their eyes on the goal, and they never quit. Look at an athlete, who may fall short of the prize many times, but he does not give up on his dream. He keeps training, competing, and believing that one day, he will hold the championship trophy.
If you stumble, get up, brush yourself off, and keep fighting forward.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that we can look forward to what lies ahead. Lord, we know that regardless of what we face or how it comes, we can depend on you to help us. The fight is fixed and we can carry ourselves as a champion in you. No longer will we give in to a spirit of defeat, but we are victorious and winners.
