Heart of an AthleteSample

True Identity

Set
The world’s definition of excellence is just based on performance. As soon as you’re not performing, no one in the media wants to talk to you anymore, and it’s easy to get down on yourself. It’s all wrapped up in performance.

It’s like building your house on the sand. It’s very changing and fleeting, and eventually it’s going to be gone because no one is always on top of his or her game. When you find your identity in Christ and in what He’s done for you, it’s the unchanging, sturdy rock that you can always stand on. You can have a much healthier perspective on yourself and in life in general and in where your hope lies. When I’m not performing well, I lose my hope. I lose my joy. I get down. I get depressed. But when you find your identity in Christ, that’s unchanging. No matter what you do, you can’t mess that up.

Excellence is getting back up after you’ve fallen. It’s knowing that your true value is in Christ and that He is our hope for the future and He is our everything. It’s not based on performance.--Ryan Hall

Go
1. How much does your athletic performance affect your emotions and your attitude? Why so?
2. As an athlete, by what words do you like to be identified? Why are those descriptions important to you?
3. What does the phrase “find your identity in Christ” personally mean to you? How might accepting the premise of Colossians 2:9-10—that “the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily” within those who believe in Jesus—change the way you approach performance?

Workout
John 14:12; 15:15; Romans 8:15-17

Overtime
Lord, help me understand what it means to find my identity in Christ. Help me not to be so wrapped up in my performance, but instead help me have a balanced approach to athletics and everything I do in life. Amen.