Wounds That Are Worth It

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I don’t understand the strategy (beyond try to hit more than you’re hit), the techniques, but most of all, I don’t understand why two adults would willing stand in a ring to be punched by one another.

Most of our lives we try to avoid pain, and yet boxers purposefully put themselves in pain’s path.

It doesn’t make sense. 

I know that they are fighting for a prize, but whatever the reward is it does not seem worth the damage that they are doing to their bodies. Perhaps it’s that they focus on the intangible outcomes of winning – self-respect, achievement, perseverance – but to me, it seems like there must be a better way to obtain them.

After all, when you enter the boxing ring the outcome is unsure. You may be at the receiving end of a thunderstorm of punches and not obtain any of the rewards which you seek.

The only situation where it seems like they would be is if you already knew the outcome. If you were certain of victory, the punches and the bruises, the hurt and the agony may not matter as much. They would still cause pain, but you would know that the wounds were worth it.

Scripture often relates our walk with Christ to that of a fight (See I Tim 6:12; Eph. 6:10-18). Christ has said that there will be hurt and pain, discomfort and brokenness along the way. Yet, those wounds are worth it. Because, as my friend once remarked to me, we know that  “Jesus wins.” Our victory is assured.  Our confidence in the battle unparalleled. . Pain that comes for the sake of the Cross is still pain, but in the end, it won’t matter so much.   Because when the bell rings, and the fight is over, when the trumpet sounds and He returns, the prize will be worth the punches, His beauty will be worth the bruises, and eternity with Him will be worth the wounds sustained here.

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What Remains

The practice of perseverance has long fascinated me.  Perhaps it’s because I’m the daughter and the granddaughter of Marines, but I’m drawn to the stories of endurance, of people who exhibit stick-to-itiveness even when the odds are stacked against them. My “life verse” is  James 1:12 in which the writers extols the reward for the child of God who perseveres when trials abound. I want to be the kind of person who keeps putting one foot in front of the other, even when things around me seem weighty, trusting that it’s God, and not I, who carries the load.

Despite my penchant for perseverance,  I don’t think I’ve ever fully appreciated how it relates to other aspects of the Christian faith. In reading I Corinthians 13:13, Paul writes that it is faith, hope and love that endures, not my stubborn determination.  My perseverance shouldn’t be prompted by trust in myself, but instead, by the faith, hope and love that comes from God.

Growing up, I was used to hearing I Corinthians 13:13 in the New International Version which states that faith, hope and love remain. The challenge is that it is easy to think of “what remains” as what is leftover – as what we’re stuck with after everything else is gone. However, the word used here is  really the same word that is used describe a Christian’s relationship with Christ. That word is “abide.”  In John 15:4, Jesus teaches His disciples, “Abide in me and I in you.”  In other words, if you are His child, you need to remain steadfast in Him, as He remains steadfast in you, in order that you might endure to the end. It means staying with Him, which doesn’t mean standing still. It means going where He leads; walking the path that He’s on; holding close to Him;  following in His steps.

In a similar way, faith, hope and love are not passive. They are not leftovers;  they are what lasts. And if I want to endure, they should characterize my life as well.

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