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Tip The Scales

By: Rick Isaiah

READY

“But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”—1 Timothy 4:7-8

SET

The athlete, the body, and faith. How do we maintain a healthy balance between competing in our sport and living for Jesus? Jesus is Lord of our lives, and that truth means there should not be an equal balance between our faith and our sport. Picture an old-school scale where you can place items on either side of the scale. Imagine putting godliness on one side and your sport on the other side. The godliness side of the scale should be heavier than the sport side. Godliness carries more weight than our sport.

By all means, we should practice and compete at the highest level. Paul encourages us to compete for the glory of God, but he also says that all we do with our bodies only lasts a short period of time. Elite athletes who win at the highest levels find out that the thrill is short lived. What Paul teaches is godliness over competition. He says that godliness will benefit us much longer than how fast we can run or swim, how high we jump, or how many trophies are in our trophy cases. A coach once said, “You are one play or injury from never playing again.” That means we should focus on godliness more than we focus on our sport. If we do that, our performance will take care of itself.

Tip the scales—godliness over sport. Here are several keys to godliness taken from Scripture:

• Be nourished by the truth of God’s Word.
• Be nourished by sound doctrine.
• Avoid arguing over subjects that don’t build your faith.
• Train yourself to be godly. Be spiritually fit.

GO

1. Describe a time when your sport took more of your time than your faith.

2. Describe a time when your faith and sport were appropriately balanced.

3. What do you do when your sport is out of balance with your faith?

WORKOUT

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• Colossians 3:17, 23
• Joshua 1:8-9

OVERTIME

Father, I come in the name of Jesus and ask You to reveal to me where my faith and godliness are out of balance. By Your Holy Spirit, help me to make the appropriate correction. Forgive me for placing my sport above godliness. I commit to compete hard, but also to focus on godly living. In Jesus’ name, amen.