Life Lessons for the Christian Athlete
Sports are often considered valuable, even for the Christian athlete, because they teach life lessons. The details are teamwork, hard work, perseverance, discipline, leadership, practice, goal setting, time management, and sportsmanship.
And if you look at each one of those things individually, it’s easy to see how sports can develop growth in those areas. For example, teamwork is critical in football. If the left tackle decides not to block on a given play, the quarterback might get blasted before he can even think about throwing a pass.
If a team worked hard on its game plan and met a team that went through the motions during the week, it’s likely not to end well for the team that didn’t prepare well.
One big area I learned from sports came from conditioning. I didn’t like running hills. But the coaches told me I needed to work hard in that area if I wanted to perform well throughout the games.
Perseverance helps when things don’t go well. Picking yourself up and trying again can lead to success down the road.
Discipline matters because focus is a key part of success. And on-field leadership is critical. Using football as an example again, it’s always 11 individuals on the field. Without someone holding the group accountable, teamwork won’t function efficiently.
Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it makes better. Goal setting helps maintain focus and drowns out the noise of things that don’t prevent a team from getting where it wants to be.
Time management means there’s enough room to get all the above things done. And sportsmanship makes sure we understand it’s still only a game.
However, it’s possible to succeed in nearly all phases of the life lessons — and still not win. For sports with playoffs, there’s only one champion. That means every sport has many more losers than winners. Of course, this makes winning special.
But how do these things work for the Christian athlete?
Teamwork — The goal is always to have more teammates.
Hard work — Never falling short of Bible study, and always being prepared to give an answer for your belief.
Perseverance — Even when people turn away from the Lord, maintaining an approach to them even if it is only through prayer.
Discipline — Trying to live every step of your life in a way that reflects the love of Jesus Christ. This requires perseverance!
Leadership — Setting an example by staying in the word, and being faithful in worship. Granting forgiveness.
Practice — Doing things daily and in an intentional way. A receiver might catch 100 passes on the practice field, trying to improve. Likewise, the Christian athlete should hit Bible study with the same determination and effort.
Goal setting — Striving to feed on the word with a daily plan that lasts all year.
Time management — There’s always time for a conversation about Jesus, even when there’s not time for it.
Sportsmanship — Realizing that winning any game will never last beyond this world. People won’t be comparing their triumphs in heaven. They’ll be worshipping the Lord and doing whatever wonderful things he has planned for us.