The DNA of an Overcomer

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4

I’ve been thinking recently about the people in my life who I have a deep appreciation for. And when I say deep, I mean it’s difficult to find words to describe the depth of gratitude and appreciation I feel.

Many of them I’ve known for a long time, but not all. Some of them I’ve only known for maybe a few years. Some, I’ve never even met!

I’m still so thankful though that all of them have been a part of my life.

Do you want to know what the common thread is? Why I appreciate them and why they inspire me?

If you think of the people in your own life, your family, friends or those you associate with, who you most value and respect – the ones you admire and hold in the highest esteem, there is likely one quality they all share that has moved you in this way.

They have overcome.
They’ve overcome great challenges and obstacles.
They overcame limitations and setbacks.
They’ve withstood ridicule and silenced opposition.
And their life has been an inspiration to you in some way.
And whether it’s business, entertainment, sports, education, science or humanitarian causes, the people we remember and celebrate most in life are the overcomers.

Did you know a young cartoon artist, Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “lacking imagination” and his first animation studio went bankrupt? Despite these setbacks he went on to create a character named Mickey Mouse and today almost every family and child in the world dreams of visiting Disneyland.

After founding Apple in the late 70s, Steve Jobs was forced out of his company in 1986 in a corporate power struggle. Eventually a door opened for him to return to Apple in 1997 and despite a failed first project, he led Apple to become the world-changing tech company it is today.

Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time, but did you know he was cut from his high school basketball team? When he finally made pro his team would repeatedly get defeated in the playoffs. Then at the height of his career after winning three championships, he experienced the devastating loss of his father being murdered in 1993, causing him to retire from basketball to play baseball in the minor leagues. But he eventually came around and returned to the Chicago Bulls, leading them to win another three consecutive championships.

The inspiration in all these lives is in the overcoming and history is full of overcomers that we remember.

Exploring your Natural Roots

If you look at your own family history and roots, you’ll likely see many who overcame so much to allow you have what you have today.

I think of my mom who became a single mother of three when I was only six years old, facing the biggest challenge of her life to raise and provide for her children by herself. How she started and ran a successful business and gave us kids the best opportunities she could while overcoming the huge social and financial pressures a divorced woman faced in her day.

I think of my dad’s family fleeing communism and coming to Canada during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Having to start over in a new country, learning a new culture and language while grieving and longing for the old country. Yet, it was here in Canada that my uncle Tommy found Christ and then led me to Jesus in my teens.

I think of my wife’s and Pastor Dave’s family and their dad being just three years old when his family had to flee the Soviet Union in 1924 as the Bolsheviks were persecuting Mennonite farmers and taking their land from them. To think of all their family overcame to resettle in Southern Alberta, begin homesteading and raise a family. And how their dad grew up to continue farming while also pastoring their country church.

It’s this overcoming DNA that brought our Pastors Dave and Cheryl to Vancouver and led them to begin Coastal Church in 1994! And I think it’s safe to say it would take more than a blog to describe all they would have overcome over the decades to bring Coastal where it is today.

Exploring your Spiritual Roots

Just as overcoming runs deep in our natural family lines, it flows even more powerfully through our spiritual roots.

Our spiritual history reveals one overcoming story after another. Faith heroes with amazing testimonies of God’s grace and power to overcome.

Look at the early church, how Peter overcame an impulsive nature and repeated failures. How Paul overcame his past as a persecutor and enemy of the church. How he endured and overcame extreme hardship and persecution himself, eventually writing two thirds of the New Testament.

Augustine of Hippo overcame a life of hedonism and because of a praying mother, came to Christ and became an early church father whose writings have influenced Christianity for centuries.

Many Christian leaders of past revivals and great awakenings like Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, Charles Finney and D.L. Moody all overcame surmounting challenges as they navigated these movements.

George Whitefield was barred from preaching within his Anglican denomination only to begin preaching outdoors to crowds of thousands with his booming voice. He became a key figure in the First Great Awakening preaching over 18,000 sermons and leading thousands to Christ.

Billy Graham overcame a crisis in his own faith when his close friend and fellow evangelist Charles Templeton deconstructed his faith and left the church. His faithfulness and integrity allowed him to become a trusted advisor to 12 U.S. presidents and over his lifetime he preached the gospel to more people than anyone in history.

Overcoming is in our DNA

The Bible says we’re surrounded by a huge crowd of overcomers—clouds of witnesses and heroes of the faith whose lives prove that you and I are meant to overcome. These are the generations who went before us and the believers we walk beside today who are still overcoming.

Jesus reminded us that in this world there would be things we all must overcome, but to take heart because He has already overcome the world and His defeat of sin, death and the grave has cleared the way for us.

And because we are now born of God, of the same Spirit and spiritual DNA, we too overcome the world!

Why Overcoming Matters

The value of overcoming isn’t just in what we overcome, but what overcoming brings to us! The amazing blessing and rewards we get to walk in because we don’t quit.

So when you find yourself asking, “What’s it all for?” just remind yourself what you get to look forward to and what Jesus promises to all who overcome. Explore the promises He gave to each of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, “to those who overcome…”.

And hear His final promise to us in Revelation 21:7:

“Those who overcome shall inherit all things, and I will be their God and they shall be My children.”

I believe this verse isn’t just for heaven, but for us to walk in our inheritance now.

Now take a moment: What’s one challenge in your life right now that you know must be overcome? Write it down. Ask God for His grace to empower you and declare by faith: “I am an overcomer in this situation.”

Just like Jesus, and just like generations of believers who’ve gone before us, your victory will one day be part of your testimony—and part of someone else’s inspiration to overcome.