Key Bible Verse: "Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy for the Lord your God fights for you, just as he has promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God" (Joshua 23:10-11). Bonus Reading: Joshua 10:1-14

Until the time of my conversion, I was totally involved with sports. But as I attended church and followed my spiritual coaches, God purified my mind and ego in a process called sanctification.

In 1 John 1:9-10, the Bible says that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us from unrighteousness—the habits of sin.

Many Christians are forgiven but don't get cleansed, so they stay in old habit patterns. My mind had to be renewed by daily Bible reading and attending church. My ego had to be humbled. I couldn't go out on the court using God's power, then take the credit for myself.

I began to see victory not as a stroke to my own ego but as a witness for God, something that proved how great He was within me.

A new, purer desire for winning branched out in other areas as well. I wanted to win academically not just for myself, but also to show people what the power of God could do inside a person. After all He was doing for me, I wanted to do all I could for Him.

Like players playing for a great coach, I didn't want to disappoint God. I wanted to achieve all that He had created me to achieve.

—A.C. Green in Victory

My Response: From what habit of sin should I ask God for the power to break free?

Thought to Apply: Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.—VINCE LOMBARDI (football coach)

Adapted from Victory (Creation, 1994) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Give me the resolve and strength, Lord, to take a definite stand for You and consistently live it out.

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