God's Unconditional Love

As an athlete and a coach, I have spent most of my life thinking God either loved me or was mad at me based on wins or losses, good or bad performances, or injury or health.

Intellectually, I believed that God loved me unconditionally, but practically, my sense of self-worth and idea of God’s love was dictated by performance. When I lost or failed, I thought I was worthless, and that God was punishing me for my sins. Repentance was motivated more out of the hope of receiving God’s favor and a future win rather than true remorse.

There are numbers of athletes and coaches who are very successful because their entire identity is based upon their performance. This performance-based identity has driven them to levels way above the average because they have had to perform to feel validated or loved by God. Does this describe you?

Instead of our self-worth being based upon performance, performance should be based on God’s unconditional love for us. We should compete because God made us to do so.

With a heart of gratitude, we should express the gifts He gave us. It is Christ’s unconditional love and our relationship with Him as a child of God that gives us our true identity. With an identity founded in Christ, our self-worth does not fluctuate based on performance. God’s love for us never changes!