Have you ever heard of the expression “Pyrrhic Victory”?
Pyrrhus was a Greek general who was born at the time of Alexander the Great and died (318 B.C.). He fought for the restoration of his power in Greece and southern Italy.
He faced the Romans and defeated them a few times, but at such a cost in lives, that the campaign could not be considered really victorious…
When they congratulated him on his victory against the Romans at the Battle of Asculus, he would have responded: “One more victory like this, and I am lost!
Since then, the term “Pyrrhic Victory” has been used to express something like “won, but did not take”.
What have you been fighting for?
Have you experienced victories like this in your life? Fight hard for something, pay a high price and then find out it wasn’t worth it?
Actually, our lives are full of Pyrrhus’ victories…men and women who pay high prices for a professional victory, to later discover that they lost their marriage or their children; people who prioritize above all the money, to end their life without friends; people so determined to reach their destiny, that they can’t even enjoy the way (and life doesn’t take anything, or…no coffin has drawers!)
I like very much the phrase of an American missionary who decided to dedicate his life to the evangelization of the Aucas Indians in Ecuador and who in 1956 died murdered by them.
Jim Elliot wrote years before to his father, explaining his decision to be a missionary with the Indians: “It is not foolish to give up what you cannot have, to have what you cannot lose.
Share the real victory!
Are you willing to stop having Pyrrhus victories in your life? Win but not take?
The Bible declares in Mt 16:26: “What good is it to man to win the whole world if he loses his soul?
So think about it, talk to your friends and family. Help someone to stop being a fool in “wanting to retain what he cannot have” in order to experience the true VITORY that is in Christ!
And think to yourself: Will my victories, or the victories I pursue, effectively make me win something? Remember that the greatest victory is in Christ.
God bless you!
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