'Strives' in the Bible

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?

“The Law and the [writings of the] Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it.

Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.