Lessons from the athlete #1

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

I want to look at three points that we can gather from athletics and from this verse.

1. Practice

Someone who does not practice in sports is going to be someone who is watching from the sidelines, because they didn't put the effort in that the rest of the team did! The same thing is true spiritually. If you don't practice in your spiritual walk with the Lord, you are going to be on the sidelines watching other Christians compete in this spiritual battle. Practice is very important because you can be ready to defend yourself against the enemy. How does one spiritually practice? Well it's simple, first learn how to use the weapon God has given us. Learn the Bible! Read it yourself, listen to teachings (podcasting... it's amazing!), or do in depth studies. The second way to practice is to pray (getting to know the coach). The third way is to train yourself to be surrounded by Godly influences. To help with this, ask yourself "what am I doing that is bringing me closer to Christ?" After asking yourself this question, you must then keep the things that are bringing you closer to Christ (the above mentioned podcasting, Godly music, Christian friends etc...) and lose the things that are pushing you away from Christ (ungodly music, tv shows or movies that make you stumble, people who bring you down etc...). If you practice regularly you will be ready for the game!

Next blog will be point #2 from athletics... I didn't want you guys to have to read too much ;)