Lessons from the athelete #3

"Also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." 2 Timothy 2:5

3. Play by the rules

After all your practice and performing in the game, you must always remember that you must play by the rules. It is obvious what playing by the rules looks like in the physical world (I mean, that is why we have ref's right?), but what does it look like spiritually? Well playing by the rules spiritually is simply, playing God's way or it could be said "following God's will for you life." Many Christians are really good at posing and even fooling other Christians, but that is simply not playing by God's rules. The rules that God set for your life are not fake and you cannot fool God. So what do these rules look like? It's simple, Jesus summed it up best by saying the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. So to play by God's rules you have to put Him first in your life and others second. What does this look like? Well, to put God first in your life, you must do what He wants you to do, over what you want to do (spirit vs. flesh). To put others first, you must do what is best for them over what is best for you. These are difficult concepts, but they are scriptural. Let's not try to cheat our way through the Christian life, because it presents difficulties to us, instead let's play by the rules...God's rules.