Life is a Competition? – a Discourse by Josephine Adu

Life is a competition, one of the unsaid philosophies running through many minds both young and old, male and female. But how true is this statement?

Life is a Competition, huh?

Competition, according to the Oxford dictionary, is an event or contest in which people take part in order to establish superiority or supremacy in a particular area. Interesting, isn’t it? Set rules, same given conditions, set timelines, one location, one destination and one reward or trophy. These are the characteristics of any and every competition. There are other characteristics; set entry period, rules of entry or entry requirement and of course, the panel that decides who wins the competition.

Now let’s consider some basic information about life; the time of birth, the place of birth, type of parents, income level of parents, type of family, even your skin colour, body type and most importantly time of death. Let’s assume these are the rules of the game of Life. According to theworldcounts .com the average number of babies born each day in the world is about 385,000. Amongst this, 32.411 per 1000 people are born in Africa. This is according to Africa’s 2021 birth rate, 2445 babies are born in Ghana per day. Mind blown…….

Let’s agree that life is a competition. Then what are the answers to these questions;

• “What are the rules of these competitions?”
• “What is the time limit?”
• “Who are our opponents?”
• “What are the requirements for entry?”
• “What is the price?“

Can these questions be answered within a few minutes without thinking hard? Life is a competition, huh?

Set Apart & Superior

According to Ecclesiastes 3:2, it says, a time to be born and a time to die. Who then decides the time you are born and who decides the time you die? Do you have the free will to decide these things? Do you decide when and where you end up as a baby? Taking a quick look into your family, have you ever wondered why the circumstances surrounding the death of every member is different? Even with twins, the time of birth is different. The question is, why did you end up in a low or middle or high-income family? Moreover, why don’t we all have one mother and father and of course, why do we have adults, the aged, the youth and children? Why are some people abled and others disabled? Hope you get where I am going with this. Well, we agree to disagree.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart” (to separate something for a special purpose to make someone seem distinctive or superior); I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (Emphasis added)

Wow. Going back to the meaning of competition, the end goal is to be superior but God says He made you superior even when you were in your mother’s womb….
Amazing, isn’t it? Jeremiah was born to be a prophet. Moses was born to liberate the people of God and his brother was born to be a priest. We can go on and on to our Savior Jesus Christ and even his disciples playing different rules in their lifetime.  According to Romans 14:12, everyone would give an account of themselves – not someone else – to God (your assignment and your works). Just imagine Jesus Christ competing with Peter (lol) or with John the Baptist. They had different assignments and different timelines. Subsequently, Jesus Christ died at the age of 33 and Peter died at 64, so how do they compete? Each had an assignment, and the most important thing was that they both completed their assignments.

Different Callings & Assignments

1st Corinthians 12:12-27 helps us understand that there’s one body but many parts, so then how can the nose compete with the liver? How can the hand compete with the head? How can a woman compete with a man to impregnate her fellow woman? In conclusion, we all have our role to play in this life. Considering the Trinity, they are 1 but 3, different administrations but the same Lord. There are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit, and diversities of operation but the same God (1st Corinthians 12:4-6)

Can the tree do without the roots or the leaves? You might be the root of a mango tree (different nutrients requirements, different environmental conditions and different life span); do not waste your time comparing and competing with the stem of a cassava plant. It is impossible. What will it profit you if you compete with your neighbour and miss your assignment? Everyone would give account personally, and you would have no excuse to say I was competing with this person, so I was doing what he was doing to achieve what he achieved.

You are unique, you are special, you have a role to play in your corner, you are needed somewhere and ultimately, you are supreme.

 Thank you,
Josephine Adu