It’s easy to admire the greatness of others. And a win for the home team feels like a win for us personally as well. But while it’s good to celebrate the wins of others, we must have the faith and courage to go for gold throughout our own lives and relationships as well.
To be sure, athletes compete in games to win. They discipline their bodies for years to achieve excellence, whether competing against others or simply to realize their personal best. And this is the same mindset we need to bring to the gifts and calling God has given us.
Whether we’re the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker, we must discipline ourselves and strive to be the best. Though, to be fair, this is less about comparing ourselves to others and more about giving our very best back to God. Whatever we do, we should do to please God. And we should not settle for giving him anything less than our gold standard performance.
And as we perform ultimately to an audience of One, it’s helpful to remember our greatness is also unique. No one else has been called to do exactly what we do with the time and place God has given us. As such, we’re the Greatest-Of-All-Time for what we do because we’ve been uniquely called and gifted for such a time as this.
This is not a point of pride, as God will still accomplish his purposes with or without us. But it is an encouragement to bring the mindset of an Olympian into our daily stewardship – playing to win and to be our very best at whatever we do. We dishonor the heavenly country we represent when we do otherwise.
In the end, celebrate the greatness of others without forgetting your own. Go for the gold in the work God has given you to do. He deserves nothing less.
Photo by michalnavrat on Pixabay
