This post is one of the principles I try to instill in our daughters. It is something I believe to be very important in life and it certainly has been important in my life. This post is an attempt to understand the difference between a winner and a loser. This post is not comprehensive, but does examine what I believe to be an essential difference.

A failure is not someone who fails. A loser is not someone who loses. Everyone fails, everyone loses. The failure is the one who fails and quits. Only God knows the millions of times when men have failed and quit, only to never accomplish what they could have if they just would have continued. Failure stops the the loser, but is only in obstacle to cross for the winner.

A winner is not someone who wins. Winners lose just like losers. Winners are those who, when they lose, they get back up and keep going, keep pushing, keep working toward the goal!

Two examples from the Bible…

• Cain: Cain offered a sacrifice to God and it wasn’t accepted. He failed. “But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:5). Cain just stopped, he quit. God even said to Cain, “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis 4:6-7). God is saying, “So I didn’t accept your offering, get back up. If you do right, you will be accepted!” God was telling Cain to stop throwing a pity party and to keep going. Of course we all know how that story ends. Cain does not proceed in seeking God’s approval, he quits and goes and kills his brother. He is not a failure because he failed. God made that clear, but he was a failure because when he failed, he quit!
• Peter: What an incredible example. Over and over we see Peter “failing” by saying the wrong thing, by giving his “two cents”, by even denying Jesus three times! Even so, Peter kept following Jesus. He didn’t stop. Even when he denied Jesus and fell so badly, he got back up and continued to follow Jesus. The same Peter that denied Jesus three times is the same Peter that God used to see three thousand people saved at Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter was a real winner, but he wasn’t a winner because he never experienced failures. Peter was a winner because he didn’t allow the failures to stop him.

There is so much more that could be said. There are many modern examples of men who have sought goals only to find failure but continued on to do incredible things. People like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Howard Schultz (founder of Starbucks), and countless more! I believe the point is very clear. A winner is not someone who never loses. A winner is someone who, when they lose, they get back up and keep pursuing the goal! A failure is not someone who fails, it is someone who, when they fail/lose, they quit.

Be a winner. Keep pushing, keep going.

There are winners and losers. The winners keep going. But there is something much more important to understand about a real winner. Being a winner in life only to lose for eternity is not winning. Another post is coming soon on this subject.