Don't Drop the Ball Before the Goal Line: How to Finish Your Race Well

Meta Description: Are you coasting in your faith? Learn three biblical practices from 1 Timothy 4 that will help you finish your life still following Jesus. URL Slug: how-to-finish-well-faith-1-timothy-4 Featured Image: A lone runner crossing a finish line tape at dawn, shot from behind, symbolizing perseverance and completing the race of faith.

A few years ago, wide receiver Kalin Clay ran 77 of the most impressive yards you'll ever see in college football — only to drop the ball one yard before the goal line. He was already celebrating. Nobody was near him. And in that moment of overconfidence, the other team scooped up the ball and scored.

I started our message with that story because I believe the most dangerous place in your relationship with Jesus isn't when life is hard. It's when things are going well — when you're in a wide open field, no defenders around, thinking, Look at me. I'm growing. I'm serving. I'm doing great. That's when we take our foot off the gas. That's when the enemy starts putting points on the board.

We want to finish well. Not just survive our faith — but thrive in it, all the way to the end.

What It Actually Means to Finish

We've been walking through a series called How to Be Well, following the 12 steps of the Regeneration process. And as we close out this series, I want to be clear about something: the goal was never just to complete a process. The finish line isn't a graduation ceremony. It's your last breath — or the day Jesus comes back. That's the tape we're running through.

The Apostle Paul understood this. He wrote a letter to a younger pastor named Timothy, who was leading the church in Ephesus — one of the most influential cities in the Roman Empire. Paul had been following Jesus longer. He'd seen people drift, depart, and give up. And he didn't want that for Timothy. He didn't want that for any of us.

In 1 Timothy 4:15, Paul writes: "Practice these things. Immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress."

Three words stand out to me from the closing verses of this chapter: practice, pay attention, and persist.

1. To Finish Well, We Practice Our Faith

Paul lays out what Timothy should be doing — rejecting empty cultural philosophies, living a life of godliness, staying rooted in Scripture, and using the gifts God gave him. Then he says: don't just do these things once. Practice them.

Here's the honest question I had to ask myself, and I want you to ask it too: Is your faith on the schedule? Not just showing up to church once a week, but actually putting time with Jesus on the calendar — reading the Word, praying, living out what you're learning?

Think about the godliest person you know. What's the difference between you and them? Practice. They've put in day after day of walking with Jesus, reading Scripture, teaching others, and tuning out what culture says in favor of what God says.

Paul says you'll know if you're practicing because others will see your progress. Ask your spouse. Ask your closest friends. Ask your life group. Have they seen you growing? If the honest answer is not much — that's not condemnation. That's an invitation. Get back in the game. Practice makes proficient.

2. To Finish Well, We Pay Attention to Our Intimacy with Jesus

In verse 16, Paul writes: "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching."

You only need to keep a close watch on something that's prone to move. And here's the truth: we are prone to wander. Paul wrote in Romans 7: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." That was true for him. It's true for me. It's true for you.

You can do all the right practices — attend church, read the Bible, confess sin, go to life group — and still miss the whole point if you don't have an intimate relationship with Jesus. This is about the person you love, not just the things you do.

Here's something I've learned about relationships: you become close based on feelings, but you stay close based on intentionality. It's true in marriage. It's true with Jesus. You won't wander into a deeper relationship with him. You have to pursue it.

Figure out what makes you love Jesus more — morning Scripture, a prayer walk, worship music in the car, journaling, a conversation with a close friend about what God's doing. Then do it again and again, because intimacy only happens through intentionality.

3. To Finish Well, We Persist in Making Disciples

Paul closes verse 16 with this: "Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers."

Your hearers. The people under your influence. Paul assumed Timothy had influence — and he was right. But here's what I want you to understand: so do you.

Maybe it's your kids. Maybe it's your spouse, your coworkers, your neighbors, your close friends. How you live and what you say about Jesus can take them from death to life.

I've thought about this in a very personal way. When I die, someone is going to sit down with the people who knew me best to talk about who I was. What I want more than anything is for my three daughters to be in that room saying, "I love Jesus because my dad loved Jesus. He didn't just talk about God on a stage. He talked about God at the dinner table. I saw a man follow Jesus faithfully, so I follow him too."

That's how I want to use my influence. How do you want to use yours?

If you feel like you don't have anyone to pour into right now, let me tell you — there are people right here in our church family who need you. Kids ministry, youth, college students, young adults, Regeneration — there are people ready to be influenced by someone who loves Jesus. Your story matters. Your faithfulness matters.

Run Through the Tape

In the 1968 Olympics, a marathon runner named John Stephen Akhwari fell and badly injured his knee about halfway through the race. By the time he limped into the stadium, the medal ceremony was over. The crowd had gone home. Most of the reporters had packed up.

But he finished. When asked why he kept going when he couldn't possibly win, he said: "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."

Jesus didn't come from heaven, live a perfect life, die on the cross, and rise from the grave so that you'd kind of follow him. He went all out so you could be all the way in — so that you would finish your life still following him.

No matter what injury comes your way, no matter how far behind you feel — you can finish this race. Not in your own strength, but through the Holy Spirit who lives in you and runs with you every step of the way.

Practice your faith. Pay attention to your intimacy with Jesus. Persist in making disciples.

Don't drop the ball before the goal line.

Want to go deeper on this message? Watch the full sermon on our website or YouTube channel. And if you're ready to find your people and keep growing, consider joining a life group — it's one of the best ways to practice your faith alongside others who are running the same race.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): The most dangerous place in your faith isn't when life is hard — it's when everything's going well and you start to coast. In 1 Timothy 4, Paul gives us three practices that will help us finish our lives still following Jesus. Don't drop the ball before the goal line. Read this week's blog post at the link below. 👇

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