Who(se) Are You?

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced competitive athlete, sports give us plenty of chances to fail. You have a bad day in practice, and nothing you do is right. You mess up a play. You make a bad pass.

These things happen to every athlete sometimes. You may have a coach chew you out. Your teammates may bark at you. If there’s a crowd, you might even get booed. Even your parents may get after you (though we certainly hope not). All these things are really tough to handle, especially if you forget whose opinion REALLY matters and to whom you really belong.

What matters is who God says you are. Are you His? Do you belong to Him? If you do, God loves you, and God sees you as worthy beyond measure. You are in His image! You are His creation. He takes pleasure in you when you love Him and serve Him. So live to please God, not people (Galatians 1:10).

Do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). It’s never about your performance with God! Yes, it’s hard to fail, and it hurts to feel the disapproval of your coach, your teammates, fans, or even your family. But we can learn from failures and get better. And more importantly, they can bring us closer to Jesus. Though Jesus never failed, He knows just like we do what it is to be criticized or even despised. Lean on Him.