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Ever since my teenage years I’ve done my best to exercise three to four times a week, which means that I’ve spent time in the gym for a good portion of my life. My early goals were adding muscle and strength, whereas my present-day goals are fighting the battle of the bulge—oh how the times change. Over the years, however, I’ve discovered that my workouts have typically been more effective when I’ve had a workout partner—someone to hold me accountable, ensure that I’m in the gym when promised, and most importantly, someone who is better than me. For whatever reason, perhaps it’s life in a sin-fallen world, people gravitate towards the path of least resistance. When I worked out by myself, I would cut myself some slack—do one less set, one less rep, or drop a few pounds off the bar. But when I had a workout partner, someone who was better than me, he usually challenged me to work harder. This was especially true when my wife dared me to do personal training with her trainer. I thought, “Sheesh . . . how hard could it be, right? I mean, girls? Really?” I was dying within five minutes and praying for the thirty-minute workout session to be over. By the end of the session I was wiped out, but rather than quit, I continued to go back. Why? Because the trainer was better than me and I wanted to improve my workout ethic.
This principle equally applies to all sorts of areas in life. If you always spend time with people that never challenge you, or worse yet, drag you down, then you’ll never grow. No matter the task or discipline (learning a new language, studying a subject, exercise, maintaining your home, or even growing in your sanctification), you should always seek people who excel in areas where you fail so you can learn from them and have them to challenge you. Blessedly, the Lord has give me a wonderful wife, who in many ways, always makes me want to be a better husband, father, and man. The same can be said for my faculty colleagues. There are days when I intellectually feel like the times when I was training with my wife’s personal trainer—within minutes my brain breaks into a sweat and my intellect pants from lack of oxygen because my colleagues push me to study harder. Part of me feels exhausted from this type of environment—I feel like I can’t keep up. But on the other hand, another part of me thrives and thirsts for the challenge. I know that in such a context I’ll never grow stale.
So with whom do you run? Do you seek out people that are better than you so you can grow and excel? Don’t seek to run with the best out of a sense of self-inflation or pride. Rather, seek to run and surround yourself with the best out of a desire to excel in life to bring glory to our triune Lord. Offer the Lord your very best and always strive, stretch, and grow.
