In this day, overcomers are rising in greater number, but you have to look closely to find them. They carry a tenacity to stay the course, despite being attacked with great resistance and impossibilities. Yet in theses days, only the overcomers will rise to the top.
I have been spending my life learning to be an overcomer while documenting what sets apart the overcomers of history.
Many want the results of overcoming, but don’t want to engage the process involved. Here are three common traits that define the mindsets of those who live in an overcoming world.
Trait #1: Having a Heart that is “All In”
No one can want your healing, freedom and transformation more than you do. Not one.
Everything Jesus was about involved an “all-in” commitment. He looked for people who would commit to being “all-in” with God and “all-in” with the relationships around them. In order to see if people carried this passion, He would address it strong up front.
Becoming a follower of Jesus usually involved a strong interaction up front. I believe Jesus wanted to get the “all-in” subject taken care of first. His strong statements would remove options people would have to bail out or change course down the road.
He would say things like:
You are either for Me or against Me.
Sell everything you have.
Let the dead bury the dead.
Take up your cross.
Deny everything
Leave father and mother
Forsake all
To those who are not “all-in,” these statements sound harsh or too demanding. Yet Jesus was calling for an overcoming heart that would remain committed when things God tough.
That is why marriage can be very challenging, because in order for it to work well, two people have to carry an “all-in” commitment for maximum fruit.
Talk is cheap, but “all-in” commitment speaks louder than words. Our actions will always speak the loudest.
The biggest reason an “all-in” commitment is needed for your transformation journey, is because you need a long-term mindset. Its not about how your life started, it is how you finish. The good news is you can make the choice to be “all-in” for transformation right now.
The “all-in” approach keeps us engaged during turbulent times. In my work over the years I have watched hundreds of people make strong declarations for change to pursue passionate directions in life; only to sizzle out years, even months later. Why is this? They’re “all-in” commitment was challenged and they were taken out.
Trait #2: There is No Plan B
One of the biggest problems facing you today is that you have too many options. This gives you room to easily quit anything. If there is a store you don’t like, there’s one across the street you can choose. If you don’t like a church you attend, you can leave and go to one down the street. You don’t have to deal with your issues, just leave. If you’re unhappy with pretty much anything, you can easily bail out and move to another option.
I am grateful for the myriad of options available to us. Yet underneath the surface, it has contributed to a non-committed culture. We want maximum results with minimal commitment. Life doesn’t work that way and the Kingdom of God certainly doesn’t.
Modern culture loves backup plans. It give us a sense of security, but its not a true security. Living with Plan B options all around keep us from taking the risks that are needed to grow.
The problem is we want to see the results before we commit. We struggle with trust, so we become slow to go “all-in.” Therefore we keep all our options open in life.
I have found that I cannot move into a new area of healing while remaining in the old way of doing things. In Mark 8, Jesus took a blind man out of the city to heal him. I find we often need to let go of our comfortable space and move into a whole new world to experience the transformation that is available.
Peter had no plan B. When Jesus began teaching things that we offensive, the crowd began to leave. When Jesus looked at Peter, asking him, “Do you want to live too?” Peter’s heart revealed an overcomer. “Where else shall I go?”
Basically he was saying, “We left everything to be with you. We don’t have a plan B.
Could it be that you are stuck because you are still holding on to all your options?
Trait #3: Nothing is Off Limits with God
It’s amazing how much we spend time avoiding certain subjects. Even though God knows everything, we still dodge His invitation to open our hearts fully. No matter how loving God is, we still struggle with opening up certain areas.
It’s like we carry a “Don’t Go There” sign on certain doors of our hearts. And we wonder why we often get stuck in our spiritual growth.
I get it and I have been there. I spent years of my life avoiding God’s work in specific areas because I was trained in a God who was disappointed with my performance and threw guilt trips at me all day. I avoided the light of God because I was convinced He was the God of all shame.
I had to learn that the light of God is incredibly bright, yet at the same time, there is a warmth of His love and zero shame. When I finally allowed God to work on every area of my heart, I realized the very thing we often avoid is the most amazing experience. My Father in heaven treats my heart with amazing love while not hesitating to deal with any issue of my life.
God invites us into a journey where nothing is out of His ability to change. Yet if we are in survival mode, we will spend more time keeping our battles hidden, rather than allow God to do the full work in our hearts He wants to do.
I remember saying to God, “OK, I’m tired of the band aids. Go ahead and do the filleting work.”
The problem is not necessarily in our interactions with God as it is with our human interactions with each other. The beauty of the invisible God often gets lost in our visible interactions with each other. I spend more time helping people re-learn who God is, so they can land free in the light of His love.
Living as an overcomer is a decision. One of those choices is the willingness to let God work on every single area of my heart. Nothing is off limits and everything is put into the light of His love so that I can experience full transformation.