Godly Competition

We are learning to be more like Christ in all areas, but to be like Christ when it comes to a game can be challenging. Sports can be a lot of fun, but they can also conjure up characteristics that are totally unlike Christ and unlike God. We need God to learn how to play games and participate in sports in the way that Jesus Christ would have done.

We all have different personalities, and there is always someone who wants to lead the game and someone who wants to make up more rules for it. When it comes to sports, so much of it is based on opinion; that is why they have replays in football, so they can go back and look at the replay to see if the referee actually called a play correctly. And even with replays, you still see players getting into arguments with the referees and the other team.

Competitiveness is an emotion that gets the adrenaline up and causes people to take sides. Many times it can make you feel like you need to defend yourself. Sadly, there can be situations that are very unjust in sports because people do cheat, and they do get angry and act out. This even happens on the playground—you may have seen someone get mad, take the ball, slam it down and storm off when they are called “out” in a game. That is a sad thing to witness. You are taking something that was a game and turning it into something unpleasant. Everyone is in shock, and it takes the fun and enjoyment out of the game. This person has also taken time away from others because when they slammed the ball down, it did not go to the next person in line, and someone had to run to retrieve the ball. This bad attitude robs both fun and time from your friends and playmates and is not being like Christ. We will continue to talk more about how to be Christlike in games tomorrow!

For more, read History of the One True God, Volume III – God-Fearing Families.