God doesn’t want you to stay the same. He wants you to grow up to full maturity in Christ. Becoming like Jesus might seem like an impossible pursuit. But Christian maturity is a lifelong process that takes time and attention and requires the help of other believers along the way. You can only run the race as you look to Jesus and have your eyes locked on Him. He is your focus, your inspiration, and your supreme example. He laid down His life so that you might be free to live for Him and become like Him.

KEY VERSES

HEBREWS 12:1-3 (NASB)

12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

1 PETER 5:10-11 (NASB)

10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

GALATIANS 5:1 (NASB)

5 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

UNDERSTANDING

• Have you ever run in a race? How did you do?

• What were the keys to finishing well in your race?

• If you could choose, which would you prefer, and why: lightning-bolt sprinter’s speed or a marathon champion’s endurance? Why?

• You’ve been called to become like Jesus. Considering that calling as a marathon, where would you say you are right now in the race?

• When you read about a “great cloud of witnesses,” what do you picture? Why is such a group significant to believers?

• Who encourages you in your Christian life? How? What particular struggles have they helped you through?

• How does the sports metaphor in this passage help your understanding of the concept of Christian endurance? Why do you think the writer used this image?

• Why do you think the writer mentioned both the sin that entangles and anything that hinders us? What’s the difference between those two things?

• Is there anything in your life that might not necessarily be a sin but is still slowing you down? What is it?

• Can you become like Jesus if you do not lay aside every sin? Explain.

• If you were to use this passage to encourage a new believer, what parts would you highlight? What parts would you use to encourage a faithful believer who is discouraged?

• The author used the language “fixing our eyes on Jesus,” likening Him to a focal point. Since we cannot see Jesus in the physical sense, what do you think it looks like in your everyday life for you to keep your spiritual eyes on Jesus?

• What does it look like to be disciplined in the battle against sin? What is the difference between looking to God to bring discipline and working harder to discipline yourself? Why does the difference matter?

• Jesus endured the cross for the sake of believers. Search for phrases in verses 2-3 that describe what Jesus endured on our behalf.

  APPLICATION

• 
  In this week’s message, you were challenged to decide whose race you are going to run in life. You can run your own race. You can run the race somebody else wants you to run. Or you can run the race that God created you to run. You can’t run all three. Whose race would you say you’re currently running? How do you know? What do you need to simplify in your life in order to become the person God is calling you to become?

• In what situation does it encourage you to know that God doesn’t want you to run in a state of flurried panic and that He is not in a hurry but is patiently leading you in the process of becoming like Jesus?

• Read 1 Peter 5:10. Ultimately, who makes you become more like Jesus—you or God? How does this encourage you as you run the race? What steps can you take each day to remember the reward during the struggle?

WANT TO DIVE DEEPER?

Here are several opportunities and resources which will help you discover the answer to life's most fundamental question: What on earth am I here for? 

GIVING

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