Years ago I heard an interview with George Foreman — former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. He was reflecting on a season of his life when he was making a lot of money. He said something that has stayed with me:

"Money is a good thing. It is okay. But just remember that every morning you have to wake up with something that no one else in the world gets up with — that image in the mirror, that face you see. You have got to love it. You have got to do some things that you feel good about."

He went on to describe the first time he made millions — the swimming pool, the fancy car, the big house, all the things that speak of success. And then he said: "But I hadn't done anything to treat mankind the way mankind had treated me."

So Foreman built a youth center in Houston, Texas for impoverished inner-city kids. He nearly went broke doing it and had to go back into boxing to fund it. But he said the second time around he had a reason. He found himself with an endurance and stamina he hadn't had before.

"When you are fighting for something beyond yourself and money — that's when nothing can stop you."

The Apostle Paul put it in different words but the same truth: "Through love, become servants to one another." (Galatians 5:13) The more we use our freedom on behalf of others, the more fully alive we become. We were made for something beyond ourselves.

What are you personally fighting for?

Prayer: Lord, free us from the smallness of living only for ourselves. Give us a vision worth fighting for — something beyond our own comfort and success. When we find it, grant us the endurance that comes from knowing we are living the way we were made to live. Amen.

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