Difference between a winner and loser - THE EDGE by Coach Doug Reese

What is the difference between a winner and a loser? Many times it just boils down to confidence.

Over my coaching career I have seen many a team and individuals blessed with enormous talent and ability that couldn’t seem to grasp the victory that was theirs for the taking. They lacked confidence, faith, and assurance that they could capture the victory. They didn’t believe they could overcome and win. They didn’t think they could win, so they were never able to secure the victory.

As a college wrestling coach I am always searching for the best student-athletes possible. I attend a lot of high school wrestling matches. In the past two weeks I have watched 15 dual meets, two tournaments, and put on a high school wrestling clinic. Of course, I look for the athletes who make winning a habit, and who possess great technical skills, but what catches my eye is the athlete who walks like a champion.

The walk of a champion is built upon confidence, assurance, and self-possession. Confidence is faith in oneself and one's powers without any suggestion of conceit or arrogance. Assurance carries a stronger implication of certainty and may suggest arrogance or lack of objectivity in assessing one's own powers. The self-assured athlete will look at the impossible and say, ‘I can do this.’ Self-possession implies an ease or coolness under stress that reflects perfect self-control and command of one's powers.

I want the confident, assured, and self-possessed athlete on my team! How about you?

How do you see yourself? Is it as a champion who wins nearly every bout or as a loser – someone who struggles, never seeming to conquer a single problem? How you perceive yourself is very important because it will ultimately affect the way other people see you!

A loser carries an air of inferiority with them. They talk negatively, make excuses, and lose self-control. It is not hard to pick out this kind of attitude in people. On the other hand, the self-confident and self-assured are easy to recognize… because they ooze confidence.

It is a simple fact that you will project what you feel about yourself to others. So how you see yourself is exactly how others will see you!

In Romans 8:37 Paul tells us how we need to see ourselves. He writes, “…we are more than conquerers…”

The words “more than” are derived from the Greek word huper, which literally means over, above, and beyond. It depicts something that is way beyond measure. It carries the idea of superiority – something that is paramount, first-rate, first-class, top-notch; greater, higher, and better than; superior to, dominant, and incomparable; more than a match for; unsurpassed, unequaled, and unrivaled…

This is the word that Paul uses to explain what kind of conquerors we are in Jesus Christ. We are huper-conquerors!

Who are you? You are precisely a first-rate, beyond measure, top-notch, dominant and incomparable, unequaled conqueror in Jesus Christ! So stop looking at yourself as a struggling loser. Regardless of your past experience, you must begin to look at yourself through God’s eyes in the light of Romans 8:37. God declares that you are a winner!

Now you need to start walking like a champion, oozing out that confidence in all directions. Not only will you see the difference, but others will notice it too.

Make a decision right now to see yourself the way God sees you – as a Champion, a walloping and conquering force! You are more than a match for any adversary that comes against you. Walk like a champion.