Teddy Roosevelt’s famous Man in the Arena quote begins like this:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...”

This quote is often used in athletic contexts, to remind the athlete that although everyone may have an opinion, those on the sidelines lack the perspective to really understand what they are going through. It is not until someone has walked the same path with early morning wake up calls, grueling workouts, sore muscles, roadblocks and setbacks, that they can truly understand the athlete’s journey.

The same is true in our spiritual life. Jesus left the beauty and perfection of Heaven to come to earth, become human and face all the same things that we face. He dealt with all the same emotions that we have: hunger, frustration, sadness, anger, loneliness. By becoming one of us, He stepped into our arena, giving Him the complete human experience.

Not only did God become man and step into our world, He chose to suffer and die a horrible death in order to pay our way to Heaven. Romans 5:6-8 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In His Name, we can have eternal life.