Be different

Our sports clubs can be great places to build great relationships and feel part of a team. As we spend lots of time with them and share the highs and lows of sport together, it is natural for close friendships to form and more and more we feel a great sense of inclusion as ‘one of the team’. We share life together, we share jokes and it can feel like home.

This can be a great thing! However, Peter describes us as ‘foreigners and exiles.’ We are strangers in this world, because it is not our true home - we are only here temporarily as sojourners on the way to our heavenly home. In a sense then we should feel different, even out of place. Perhaps you know that feeling very well. So, as Christians we do need to be careful of feeling too at home here.

When we feel different, or like we don’t fit in, there are often two temptations we can be drawn to. One is to withdraw; leave the world of sport and spend more time with Christian's, it’s easier that way. Next week we’ll see how Peter calls us not to do that.

The other temptation is to conform. To join in and be like everyone else. But Peter warns us in no uncertain terms that this is a bad idea.

He calls us to “abstain from sinful desires.” It is striking that he doesn’t just say “abstain from sinful actions”, but desires. This is because when we entertain sinful desires, this leads to sinful actions. God doesn’t just want us to act well, but for our hearts to be His.

Sinful desires are dangerous; they wage war against your soul. They can ruin us spiritually, as our conscience gets worn down and we are torn away from the very relationship our souls are made for and cry out for.

What does this look like for us?

There are all sorts of temptations in the world of sport that we can fall into as Christians. These can include joining in with unhelpful banter and gossip, sexual temptation, unnecessary aggression towards opposition or officials, or drinking too much alcohol. It can also include pride, or loving sport or our bodies or approval more than God, amongst many other things.

Peter calls us to be different. But it’s essential we read these verses in light of the preceding verses we have explored in the last few weeks. We are called to be different and empowered to live this out because we have been chosen by God! We have been called out of an old way of life to be His. We don’t have to live in darkness anymore. That’s not who we are. We don’t need to conform because we crave approval - we have the approval of the King of Kings!

→ What temptations lie before you today? How will reminding yourself of your identity in Christ help you stand firm?

Pray for yourself

Thank you God that you have called us to be your own. Thank you that we don’t need to give into temptation because we have all we need in You.

Please help us to be aware of the temptations that are before us and the sinful desires that can take root and wage war against our souls. Please help us to fight them in Your power.

Pray for your friends

Finally, take a few minutes to pray for those in your sport - that God will open a door for his message in your club or team this Game Day.