"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…"

- Hebrews 12:1 ESV

So How Do You Carry Lesser Dead Weight in Your Spiritual Race?

1. You are a new creation in Christ [2 Corinthians 5:17], and you received the Holy Spirit. But you need to know that you are a sinner until the day you die and that you need to repent of your sins before God continually. Sin clings to you so easily, but God’s love and mercy never fail. Develop a habit of examining your conscience daily and admitting your sins to God, who opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [James 4:6]
2. You need to examine your ‘spiritual backpack’ and see what things are you carrying around but are not needed. What attachments do you have in life? What personal ambitions and plans do you have that you have not surrendered to God yet you keep on chasing them? Do you aim to please people first, rather than God?
3. One thing that can truly bog you down in your spiritual race is a lack of forgiveness – and it can come in the form of anger, resentments, grudges and bitterness. You need to examine your life and acknowledge these things in your life, and then learn to forgive and let go. It is very difficult to do, but for your sake, you need to do it. This dead weight can literally cause you to stop the race – or get disqualified from it.
4. What emotional baggage do you carry with you? Are you walking with self-doubt, anxiety, stress, fear, or other similar emotions? You need to deal with those emotions so you can be free to walk with and serve God.
5. Learn to live with less spiritual ‘complications.’ Be faithful to the roles God has given you. Be committed to your daily prayer and scripture. It is a spiritual marathon, not a sprint. Have spiritual blinders so that you can be single-hearted and simple-hearted in your walk with God. You should be ready for a very long race, although you cannot know exactly when your finish line will be. Patience, long-suffering and endurance are vital character traits you need to have. Have peace in yourself, and develop a grateful disposition in life.
6. Keep your eye and focus on the finish line. After all, this is your life hidden with God. See Colossians 3: 1-4.
   

1. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. [Hebrews 12:15 ESV]
2. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [Colossians 3:1-4 ESV]
3. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:13-14 ESV]
   
4. Other References: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; and 1 John 1:9.


4. Other references: Ecclesiastes 3:12-13; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Timothy 6:6-12; and Proverbs 16:20.

What attitudes and way of thinking do you need to change for you to be joyful now – and stay joyful?

Tom Caballes is the National Senior Administrator and a National Coordinator of the Lamb of God, a community of the Sword of the Spirit with 7 branches located throughout New Zealand. Tom also leads Kairos New Zealand, an outreach program for high school, university, and post-university aged people.  Tom and his wife Mhel and their two daughters live in Wellington, New Zealand.

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