And the Winner is …

Back in the 80’s Marci and I were blessed to be part of an amazing songwriting team. Some of our songs appeared on a Grammy nominated album. It was a fun and exciting season in our lives.

One year we had the opportunity to collaborate with Marvel comics to write songs for an ABC television Saturday morning cartoon series. Marvel’s songwriters would compete against our songwriters for song slots on each weeks show. It was a friendly competition. Still, it was personally and financially rewarding whenever your song was chosen for an episode!

I admit that I am competitive and enjoy winning. Come on! Who likes to lose?

Even the Bible says, “in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” 1 Corinthians 9:24.

The problem with being competitive happens when you start caring more about yourself than others.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3

There is nothing wrong with ambition until it becomes selfish ambition. That usually happens when your self worth is tied to your performance.

To be ambitious is a good thing when your greatest ambition in life is to please God. Paul said, “we make it our goal to please Him” 2 Corinthians 5:9.

Jesus always did what pleased His Father, not in order to win His love, but because He already had it.

Here lies the secret to living the life God wants for us. We live from a place of gratitude, knowing we could never earn God’s love. Christ freely loved us when we couldn’t care less about Him.

It’s called grace!

Grace then empowers us to love others and consider them more important than ourselves.

When we are loving others out of gratitude to God for His amazing grace, He rewards us in wonderful ways. And the best reward is yet to come.

Yes, one day there will be an awards ceremony beyond our wildest dreams. God will reward us for the grace we gave to others because of Him. Our greatest reward will be getting to live forever in His beautiful, glorious presence!

I’ll take that prize over a silly old Grammy in a heartbeat!

“By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3.14