OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL READING JUNE 2, 2025, MONDAY ODB MESSAGE
Our Daily Bread 2nd June 2025 Devotional, Monday TOPIC: Winning by Losing
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Chronicles 17-18; John 13:1-20
KEY VERSE: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. – 1 Corinthians 9:24
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
INSIGHT FOR TODAY
The athletic imagery of running a race used in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 is also seen in Hebrews 12:1-2. The Greek word trechō, translated “run,” is used in both passages. We’re to “run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24) and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). The “great cloud of witnesses” (v. 1) included the “sometimes winning, sometimes losing” Old Testament believers. Though perfection will continue to elude us, as we “[fix] our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2), we can grow in faith and endurance.
Our Daily Bread 2nd June 2025 Devotional, Monday Message:
“Not winning is in fact more powerful than winning,” Professor Monica Wadhwa argues. Her research reveals that people tend to be most energized and motivated not when they win but when they almost win. Falling just short of one’s ambitions tends to give people the motivation to keep growing and striving. Easy victories, on the other hand, tend to cripple energy and motivation.
Wadhwa’s perspective gives fresh insight into Paul’s analogy used in two passages that compare following Christ to running a race: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Philippians 3:12-14. In both instances, Paul emphasizes that believers ought to give their pursuit of Christ and the gospel their all, “straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13) and running “in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24).
The paradoxical truth is that what we’re striving for—faithfully sharing the gospel (v. 23) and knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8)—aren’t things we can ever say we’ve achieved. We’ll always fall short. We’ll never be able to say we’ve “already arrived” (v. 12).
But that’s okay—because it’s the experience of drawing ever closer to Christ that matters. It’s only His strength that empowers and motivates us to pour our whole hearts into pursuing Him—the one who will one day carry us to victory.
REFLECT: How have you experienced growth through falling short? How can falling short encourage you to rely on Christ?
PRAY: Dear God, thank You that I don’t need to fear falling short, but that You use these moments to continually draw me closer to You.
Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet. (Our Daily Bread 2nd June 2025 Devotional)