"Learn To Win By Winning"

There are only three teams in the NFL right now with one or two losses. Two of those teams were in the Super Bowl last season (the Eagles and Chiefs), and the other team is the Detroit Lions. Their franchise has struggled for so many years, but head coach Dan Campbell is leading quite the turnaround. In his first season, the team was 3-13...last year, they took a big step forward finishing 9-8...and currently, the team is 7-2 and in first place in the NFC North. The story of the Detroit Lions has historically been one of disappointment and losing and they’ve had to overcome their inability to consistently win. It meant they had to change the culture and mindset of the team and learn to win. So how did they do it? As I was watching the Lions play the Chargers in a fun game on Sunday, broadcaster, Jim Nantz shared about the Lions' journey and how head coach, Dan Campbell, tried to figure out how to win. It sounds simple but he said, “You know how you learn to win...by winning." In thinking about what this means and trying to understand the somewhat obvious yet confusing statement, it seems to point to the reality that winning fosters more winning. It begins with a commitment to winning and a desire to win while a winning season starts with one win. When a team gets used to winning, they keep winning. Winning helps a team realize what it takes to win and so they keep doing it. The more they win, the more they believe they can win. The more they get used to winning and develop confidence in winning, the more they expect to win. When it comes to our own lives, we also try to figure out how to win. We want to turn our life around by changing our “culture” and “mindset” and overcome our disappointment and inability to consistently win, but how do we learn to do it? The truth is, “You know how you learn to win...by winning.” Or better put, we learn to win by becoming victorious. God makes this happen when we surrender our lives to His Son, Jesus, and place our faith in His life, death, and resurrection. As 1 Corinthians 15:57 (TLB) tells us, “...It is He who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We then echo what Paul says in Galatians 2:20 (AMP): “I have been crucified with Christ ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” We can’t learn to win or experience winning without Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we’ve already won and now keep winning or living a victorious life in Him and because of Him. 1 John 5:4-5 (AMP) tells us, “For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our faith . Who is the one who is victorious and overcomes the world? It is the one who believes and recognizes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.” Our faith is in Him and we learn how to live the right way as we follow Him and He lives in us and empowers us. We produce wins, or rather, fruit is produced in our lives because we are victorious in Christ and united to Him. Jesus says, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5; AMP). Paul wrote these words that can be used as our prayer today: “...We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:9-10; NLT). We “learn to win by winning” and winning fosters more winning, or rather, Christ living in us results in more fruit and more and more spiritual growth. It starts with our first win, receiving salvation through Christ and becoming victorious. Then, we continue to win as we surrender and follow Him each day. I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I praise You for the victory I have in Christ. I’m so grateful for salvation and eternal life. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me, and I thank You for empowering me to live a victorious and fruitful life in Him. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR PACKS:

1. In what ways has Jesus changed your life? 2. How do you describe the victory that's found in Him and the winning life you now have in and through Him?