Striving to Thrive

Does life have you down and exhausted? While constant striving seems like a requirement to make it in this world, life doesn’t have to be so hard. Finding the right source for striving can help you to thrive and live your best life right now.

We’re bombarded with daily messages to get more, go bigger, and achieve great things. In fast-paced consumer America, striving has taken on an entirely different meaning. Everywhere you turn, people are on the move and not slowing down. Some strive for a soulmate, success, money, top college, big home, luxury car, or job promotion. Others may strive for beauty, identity, acceptance, peace, approval, instant fame, truth, perfection, or even contentment.

Maybe your reasons for striving are not listed here, but you have some. Every human is a striver who desires to reach fulfillment and satisfaction. So, is striving healthy, essential, or even biblical?

Striving Basics

Striving begins and forms deep within the human heart as a longing or desire for something not present in our lives. This void and inner sense that something is missing often leaves us restless and dissatisfied. To combat the negative feelings that come, we may engage in envisioning or fantasizing about a better self or personhood and/or life altogether. This drive for something greater keeps growing for it’s a utopian ideal where action is necessary to chase after what we so desperately want.

Thinking about positive change is okay and even healthy, but it also has a downside. We may be convinced to take drastic measures. What might this be? Well, we may compromise our personal integrity, morals, and/or values. And we may even lose ourselves completely… more on this later.

Striving unleashes a hidden power that pumps up the self-ego. It gives us something to talk and brag about with others to make ourselves feel worthy, appreciated, and satisfied. But if not applied correctly, it will destroy us. Because at the end of a striving search, there are costs to bear like one’s own self.

The Meaning of the Word “Striving”

To better understand the true meaning of striving, let’s turn our attention to how this word first originated.

“Strive” comes directly from the Greek verb agonizomai. In English, agonizomai really means “to agonize.” Looking more closely at the root word of agonize, you then get the noun agon. Agon literally means “a gathering,” “contest,” “struggle,” or “opposition.” In the Greco-Roman world, main gatherings were huge spectacles and a natural part of life. But the main purpose of these gatherings was to display contests of athleticism with the goal of earning the crown of supremacy. One such Greek athletic game later evolved into modern-day football. Football is a perfect example of a struggle to demonstrate who is powerful and the best.

Striving in the Bible

Is there a biblical correlation? Yes, agonizomai appears within the Bible! It’s specifically found seven times within the New Testament. If agonize means to have an intense wrestling or struggle and refers to contending for a prize, then its connection to striving is naturally fitting. For striving very often is also used in a metaphorical sense.

Throughout the Bible, striving relates to the ability “to contend or fight with perseverance.” In Luke 13:24, Jesus commanded that we must strive to enter His kingdom by the narrow door. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12 that he must fight the good fight of faith. Striving entails there’s a goal and prize to be won and we must keep fighting.

Losing Ourselves in Our Striving

Remember when I referenced earlier that we may lose ourselves when we strive? This is true because a laboring effect takes place. It can be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually draining when we strive.

This was the exact case for Apostle Paul. In Colossians 1:29, Paul continuously strives, but it’s according to God’s power for others to receive salvation. You see, Paul didn’t strive and lose himself in his ministry; Paul strove and lost himself in God’s ministry. There’s a difference! Paul threw his entire being into God’s work and surrendered himself for the sake of people finding Christ and winning salvation. Paul’s human spirit was depleted, but it was the Holy Spirit’s dwelling that enabled him to keep going and striving in perseverance to spread the gospel around the globe. When we’re focused on the right source for striving, we can thrive.

The Strive Source Matters

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Our hearts determine what we truly value and worship, but they are also a breeding ground for sin. Striving can lead us to want more, feeling defeated and hopeless when it’s for the wrong reasons.

So, what is the right source for striving? The source for all truth and understanding is Jesus Christ. We must guard our hearts daily so we can focus on godly things. Jesus is the prize to strive for and to be won! When Paul strove, he lost himself for the right reasons, and we’re to do the same. For Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Striving with Jesus on our minds will have us living our best lives right now.