Message Notes
It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
1/25/2026
Cliché – New Year, New You
Jeremiah Ramer
January 25, 2026
There’s a phrase we’ve all heard before. I’ve used it, you’ve probably used it. The phrase is: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
“Spiritual growth is a marathon, not a sprint.”
“Spiritual growth as a sprint looks like performance.”
“Spiritual growth as a marathon looks like a lifestyle.”
Performance sounds something like this: “Am I doing enough? Am I praying enough? Reading, serving enough? Am I giving enough? Trying hard enough?”
“Performance turns spiritual growth into a scoreboard.”
The performance scoreboard produces “pride when we think we’re winning” and “shame when we think we’re losing”.
While spiritual growth as performance says, “I have to win in order to prove myself” spiritual growth as a lifestyle says, “winning is about a long obedience in the same direction.”
Luke 9:23: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
The word lifestyle means: the way you live encompassing your daily habits, behaviors, and attitudes shaped by your values and reflected in your decision making.
Lifestyle is who you really are when you’re not performing for anyone or trying to prove anything. But here’s the good news, you can get off the rollercoaster of “performance Christianity” at any time.
Luke 9:23-25: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
Jesus is essentially saying, “faithfully commit yourself to a humble and long obedience in the same direction by following me and watch me work in and through you!”
John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”
Philippians 2:5-8: “Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Luke 9:23-25: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
John 12:24-26: “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.”
Psalms 1:2-3: “Delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Galatians 6:9: “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
When you’re feeling discomfort as it relates to the conviction of the Holy Spirit about sin in your life or about your level of obedience and commitment to God, “don’t chase comfort, lean into the discomfort and ask God to use it for your good.”
When we begin to see spiritual growth as a lifestyle, we begin to understand something so incredibly crucial: “God is far more interested in who you are becoming than how fast you are becoming.”
Philippians 1:6: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”