How to Be a Happy Sportsperson: Game DaySample

When a player has a terrible game and even costs you the match, it's not unusual to be highly critical behind their back but to say nothing to their face. This two-faced behaviour is perfectly normal in sport, even though it destroys trust and ruins team spirit.

Whether this example is in a team sport or an equivalent in an individual sport, Jesus is challenging this destructive tendency here.

To understand this statement of Jesus, you need to understand what the Bible means by these terms. First, the 'heart' is the focal point of personality. It is the centre of the intellect, emotion and will. This is the core of who I am. This is me.

Secondly, to be pure literally means ‘without folds’. It is a piece of cloth which is perfectly smoothed out. Nothing is hidden; the whole thing is visible. In other words, to be pure means entirely visible and transparent.

So, as we look at the culture of sport, we can apply by saying one way to be pure is to be without hypocrisy. Every time you say one thing about someone at your club behind their back and not to their face, you cover up what you think of them. You are not being transparent. You are being a hypocrite.

The first step to happiness is to look in the mirror and admit this, to be suitably humble and sad about your failings before God. Jesus Christ died to rescue you from the punishment for such hypocrisy. God has given you a brand-new start and puts his Spirit in you to make you more like Jesus. God wants to help you fight the temptation to be a hypocrite. Jesus promises that this is the way to ‘see God’. He wants to help you see him at work in you.

Today you want to do well, and you want to win. However, as you get ready, think ahead to how you will conduct yourself when someone is responsible for things going wrong. It could be a teammate, a coach, a physio or an opponent. You should ask God right now to help you avoid hypocrisy.

Don't talk behind their back. No matter what others are saying, don't join in. If you have anything to say, speak to the person themselves directly. If you can't tell them to their faces, don't say it to anyone else. Ask God to give you a pure heart so that you might see God at work in your life today.

Pray for yourself

Dear Lord, Help me today to conduct myself in a way which honours you when things go wrong. Help me not to speak behind people’s backs. Give me a pure heart so that I might see your work in my life today. In your name, Amen.

Pray for your friends.

Finally, take a few minutes to pray for your sports friends and colleagues - that God will open a door for his message in your club or team.