What Are You Competing For?

What is your dream?

When you think of your athletic goals, what is the win? Breaking a record? Winning a championship? Making it to the next level?

We start playing sports because it looks cool and fun. We see professionals on TV competing at high levels and we also want to achieve something great. So, we set goals. We start working out on our own. We find ways to diet and rest so we get the most out of our bodies. We surround ourselves with people who will help us achieve our goals—competitive teammates, coaches who will work extra with us, or maybe even a personal trainer. 

We’re having fun, but eventually, we want to win. We want to knock down that goal and set up a new one to keep pushing forward. There is nothing wrong with setting goals and having dreams.

But as a competitor who has bought in to Christ and His work in our hearts and through our lives, we should have more than dreams of success and goals in sport. Our goals and dreams in life should consist of much more than what we can achieve for ourselves.

In His last few hours before His arrest, Jesus was teaching His disciples one last time. In John 14:12, He said, “’Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.’”

Let that verse sink in. Jesus, the agent of God’s creation, the only begotten Son who did miracle after miracle, said we will do greater works than Him? What?!

It is because of that last bit of verse that says, “…because I am going to the Father.” Jesus was not going to leave us alone. Jesus followed up by saying we need to pray and keep His commandments:

“’And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.’” -John 14:16-17

This Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, resides in us when we accept Jesus’ gift of salvation and redemption. When that happens, God gives us spiritual gifts that we are to use for Him. If we are followers of Christ, God will use those gifts to lead others to Himself and save them in Jesus. This is the greater work we will do. So, this is where we should set our goals and dreams as Christians. 

How do we harness those gifts for God’s glory?

Training to achieve goals of the Spirit actually looks a lot like training for sports. Here are three things we as followers of Christ must be doing to utilize these gifts:

Diet and Rest

As Christians and athletes, we need fuel for the work. For an athlete, it is proper food and rest. In John 8:51, Jesus said, “’I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.’”

We need to trust in who He is and study the Scriptures. That will nourish the Spirit within us. He also said He will give us rest from our burdens (Matthew 11:28). 

Workout

Successful athletes do not just walk on the scene and win. There is work that goes in. That’s true for the Christian too. Prayer is the best exercise for our spiritual fitness. The Spirit within us is our connection to God. Much like a workout changes the body to compete, prayer changes us to have a heart that beats with God’s. Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

Joyful communion with the Lord, through prayer and study, will lead to Him putting within us a heart like His, that wants what He wants. 

A Team

Just as an athlete needs others, like coaches or teammates, to succeed, Christians do too. That team is the Church. Scripture is full of references to being in the lives of others, but Hebrews 10:24 says it plainly, “… not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

Whether it's over coffee or at Sunday worship, we need to build a strong community where we encourage and find encouragement. This keeps us going in using our gifts to reach others with Jesus’ love. 

Setting goals and having dreams aren’t bad things. At times, you may need your goals to keep you motivated. But as a Christian, who has the God of the universe watching and guiding your through the Holy Spirit, those God-given gifts can mean eternal life change for those around you.

With the Spirit in you giving you power, you could be an agent of God’s life-altering love. How could your goals change knowing this? What could your life look like? For His glory, He’s given you a greater motivation to see the way you compete as a chance to change lives.



LIVE IT OUT: 

“’He must increase, but I must decrease.’” -John 3:30 

Question: What has been your motivation for competing? How might God be asking you to adjust that motivation?

Challenge: Ask God about how He wants you to approach a teammate who has been struggling and encourage them.