There’s no doubt that winning is better than not winning. As humans we’ve been programed to win, actually, we’re at our best when we’re winning. Even though it’s true that failure is a part of life, we can either decide to fail forward or to remain defeated. We can decide to take our failures and learn from them or we can decide to live defeated lives. The truth is that everyone fails; the goal is to turn those failures into victories. 

We should never allow ourselves to be defined by our failures. If you’ve failed in school you shouldn’t let that define you. If you’ve failed at marriage you should never allow that marriage to define you. In any area of your life in which you fail, that failure should not be the end of the matter, because few things have as devastating an impact on your soul than feeling like a failure. The good news is that God created you to be more than a conqueror. The better news is that He wants to grant you the necessary grace to turn your failures into victories. 

For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. – 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 NLT

The Apostle Paul is credited with writing one-third of the books in the New Testament and he’s also credited with spreading the Gospel beyond Palestine throughout the rest of the world. We probably would not have heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ if not for the Apostle Paul. Initially Paul persecuted the Church and participated in and approved of the death of the first martyr of the Christian faith. But Paul recognized his failure. One day he had an encounter with the Jesus he was persecuting, at which point he realized that not only was he not winning he was also working against that which he was called to win at. I think we can all look back at our failures and sympathize with Paul. Because at times and without realizing it we became our own worst enemies. Paul had a zeal for God yet he found himself working against God.

Let me end by giving you Paul’s winning strategy. First, he recognized his mistakes and learned from his failures. Second, he didn’t go at it by himself he allowed God’s grace to become a part of his winning strategy. And third, he worked harder than everyone else. 

Winning in the most important areas of your life will require that you recognize your mistakes, that you seek God’s favor and that you work harder than you’ve ever worked before. To live a winning life, it doesn’t matter where you start, what matters is where you end.