People do not participate in games for nothing. Every game is optimized to precipitate a winner.
The Christian journey is like a race. Every believer is an athlete. Whereas in a conventional race, only a few athletes (3 actually) are considered victorious, in the Christian race, everyone could be victorious.
We will win laurels at the end of our race like the athletes in a secular race who win medals.
Every game has rules. The conventional race has rules. The Christian race has rules. You cannot win any of these races if you do not engage in them according to the rules of the race.
Find out the rules of your game – the Christian race, and run according to them. Do not run your race based on the jaundiced opinion of others or the preferences of significant others. Run your race according to the dictates of God’s Word.
The first rule of the Christian race is to make sure that you qualify for the race. To qualify for the race, you must confess your sins to God, ask for His forgiveness, decide never to return to those sins anymore, and ask Jesus into your heart to become your Lord and Saviour. Don’t begin the race without this commitment. Don’t run the race to the finish line only to find out that you were not even qualified to run the race in the first place. You would cry for all eternity if you did.