A 5k, a marathon, a Tough Mudder, tryouts for your school team—we recognize the importance of preparing well for these types of events. In many cases it can be a “do or die” situation. Preparing well requires a plan, commitment, tenacity and self-discipline. The race of life is also a do or die situation. And life is much more a marathon than a 5K. The apostle Paul encourages us today to establish a spiritual training regime that gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to work in us the strength and endurance we will need to run the race well and finish strong. As in all training regimes there are fundamentals that we will all keep coming back to. At the same time, we are all different and the specifics of our own training regime, if it is going to work best for each of us, will be personal to each of us. But as was stated earlier, success in this arena requires a plan, commitment, tenacity and self-discipline. God help us grow in all these areas.