This was the post I made in the other thread -
Are war games any different than other games or activities in life from a competition point of view ? Is there any scriptural support for competing with others in anything ? Some say competition has various pros that result in improved living for mankind as if these improvements could not be had outside of competing with others. Competition also brings about some bad also. What God especially hates often surfaces from winning some competition - pride. Anxieties occur over earthly things that negatively affect the ego. If our enjoyments are based on winning, then we are not experiencing true unspeakable joy that is not based on circumstances. War itself is a competition where someone will win and the other lose. Even being more pious than others is or can become a competition. So competitions with others require quite a different mindset than how the world views competing.
As believers our warring is not to be against flesh and blood but in the spirit realm. Yet some of the biggest wars are those fought in churches where Christians compete with one another to win their points. If these were struggles against heresy then they would appear to be correct to do but often they are about human preferences.
Someone once said and I have heard it often repeated - 'Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser'. Well, is that how a Christian should respond to competitions ? I ask that because I have spent much of my life in some way or another competing with others, other Christians included. And have I been a 'good loser' ? Many times , no.
So, although I had a wonderful Christian home, I don't recall much about how to live in this competitive world and deal with winning and losing in a Christian way that would glorify God. This, I believe, requires a way of viewing competition quite opposite of the world. A major area of non-conforming. Something to be taught from an early age.
I don't mean to wander off the topic too far on this thread and if it is too far, we can move it to another new thread.
I'm wondering what others think on this and how they go about both winning and losing in some kind of competition with others that glorifies God. Even here on this forum I think we are into 'war games' at times, myself included, and know some of my input is not to glorify God in it. Thoughts ?