I played the club championships this year and lost by a stroke. I did a good job of trying to have fun glorifying God, but I failed to add bold confidence and determination to win. God is more glorified by, "I am going to have fun going out and winning for God's glory" then He is by, "I am going to go have fun for God's glory and see what happens". God wants us to be confident and bold. Jesus was. I must work as if it depends on me, but live realizing it doesn't.
Our best is accomplished when we go out and are confident and bold and believe that we are going to win, because this is the attitude necessary to accomplish your best. When I strive to do my best to glorify God and worship Him, I should have an attitude similar to the one I would if I was striving to impress Brie with my performance. I would go out there and do everything I possibly could to be successful. I would not be scared of the competition, I would not be passive, but rather I would be bold and confident and truly believe that I was better than them and strive to whup them. Otherwise, I would not be impressing her at all, but rather making myself look weak. It is similar with striving to do my best for God's glory. While I cannot "impress" Him, I must glorify Him, and He is glorified when I do my best in the ways described above. Therefore, viewing the idea of worshiping and glorifying God in a way similar to striving to impress Brie with my performance is a good one, as long as I understand that I cannot impress God, but I can glorify Him and worship Him through performing to the best of my ability, and performing to the best of my ability requires the attitude that I would have if I was trying to impress Brie.
God is not honoured when we are scared of somebody else. He is not honoured when we are scared of the competition. The only person I should fear is God. I must be bold, confident and believe that I will destroy my competition. I need to be respectful of my competition and not look down on them as people or disrespect them as people, but as competition, I should be looking to destroy them. Sports are a battle. Destroy the competition, and in Christ-like love, shake their hand after. Again, it is important however to ensure that you are not disrespectful to them while destroying them, for it is a game, not war. Be mindful of being Christ-like when you are seeking to destroy your competition in sport.
In order to do my best I should have an attitude of, "No competition can stand against me accomplishing what I am seeking to accomplish. No competition is better than me". The only One whom I should understand can prevent me from accomplishing what I am seeking to accomplish is God. That is a very comforting thing which breeds confidence, because it allows me to go out there with an attitude of desiring to accomplish something for God and His glory, understanding that I will only accomplish it if God chooses to bless my efforts. He calls me to do my best though. He calls me to do my part. Therefore, it is important for me to be confident and truly believe that no competition can stand in my way. Doing so will ensure that I put forth my personal best, and then allow God to take care of the results. I can say, "I give you this effort and performance Lord. Please be glorified and do with it as you see fit".
Look at David. When he fought Goliath, he was extremely bold and confident. I know that he had faith that God was going to bring him out on top, but he could not be passive. He still was bold and confident and he went out there aggressively and went after the victory. He was in no way passive, waiting for God to bring the victory to him. David understood that he had to do his part in the process. David had to work as if it depended on him, but he lived realizing that it didn't. David understood that in the end, God's will would be done. David understood that he would only be victorious if God chose to bless his efforts.
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Monday, 6 October 2014
God is honoured through my efforts to pursue excellence
God is honoured when I strive to do my best in anything I am doing. Pursuing excellence honours Him.
Pursuing excellence means working my hardest to get as good as I can. This takes time and energy. I need to work hard in a way that honours Him to get great in a way that honours Him.
I need to work hard as if it all depends on me, but then live realising it doesn't. Any success I ever have directly relates to whether God chooses to bless my efforts. Either way He is still glorified by my efforts regardless of the outcome, and I have the responsibility to pit that effort in. This is because He is worshipped by my efforts and also He
expects me to work hard and do my part in the things that I pursue.
In striving to worship God through my efforts, simply work your hardest and then ask God to use those efforts to bring about something beautiful for Him. That is the sole purpose of my efforts.
When I look at all of these concepts, I have at times felt like I have to make them all blend together and/or build off of each other. I don't know if that is the best way to look at them. They certainly relate to each other, but I think it may be better to simply recognise them as individual principles which you apply as the situations call for them. The one thing to look out for is to make sure that none of these principles contradict each other, but most importantly that they don't contradict God's Word.
Pursuing excellence means working my hardest to get as good as I can. This takes time and energy. I need to work hard in a way that honours Him to get great in a way that honours Him.
I need to work hard as if it all depends on me, but then live realising it doesn't. Any success I ever have directly relates to whether God chooses to bless my efforts. Either way He is still glorified by my efforts regardless of the outcome, and I have the responsibility to pit that effort in. This is because He is worshipped by my efforts and also He
expects me to work hard and do my part in the things that I pursue.
In striving to worship God through my efforts, simply work your hardest and then ask God to use those efforts to bring about something beautiful for Him. That is the sole purpose of my efforts.
When I look at all of these concepts, I have at times felt like I have to make them all blend together and/or build off of each other. I don't know if that is the best way to look at them. They certainly relate to each other, but I think it may be better to simply recognise them as individual principles which you apply as the situations call for them. The one thing to look out for is to make sure that none of these principles contradict each other, but most importantly that they don't contradict God's Word.
Audience of One...He sees my failures perfectly
Another huge bonus of playing for Christ is the fact that He views my failures perfectly. Often we fear failing due to the fact that we care what other people think. When we play for Christ however, He understands perfectly that we are not perfect. He doesn't demand perfection. He doesn't even demand a win. He simply wants me to go out and do my best as an act of worship to Him.
Other people look at our failures and judge us. My Audience of One, Who is the perfect Judge, simply loves me and wants me to enjoy worshipping Him through my efforts. He looks on with perfect love. There is no better audience than that. What incredible peace and freedom playing for Him alone brings. Why would I ever fear?
Other people look at our failures and judge us. My Audience of One, Who is the perfect Judge, simply loves me and wants me to enjoy worshipping Him through my efforts. He looks on with perfect love. There is no better audience than that. What incredible peace and freedom playing for Him alone brings. Why would I ever fear?
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