Whether we win or lose, our faith in Christ must be seen for God’s glory and humankind’s benefit.
We see this quite frequently in professional and collegiate sports these days. What I consider most impressive are those athletes who may come up a bit short yet still hold their heads high in accepting defeat while still praising their Lord!
These athletes know they are serving God in their sport and winning is not the ultimate goal.
For those of us who hit the office instead of the playing field, we, too, are faced with winning and losing — often coming up short as well.
We may not have millions or even thousands watching our performance, but others are certainly observing how we handle our successes and our failures. We will often fall short of our desired business goals.
During six decades of professional work, I’ve gradually come to conclude that what’s most important is the process rather than setting often illusive goals.
As my faith has grown over these past 40 years, I’ve discovered my work efforts must be aligned with God’s desires and plans for my life and the lives of those He places in my path.
I’ve learned to follow Paul’s guidance found in Colossians 3:23-24:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”
Impressing others has no tangible long-term value. Our victories are often short-lived.
Victories may impress others for a while, but in due time they will be forgotten or simply placed in some soul’s trophy case of trivial triumphs.
In whatever we do, we naturally want to be recognized for our accomplishments. The question we must ask is this: “Who’s our audience?”
Yes, we all have others who will be watching our actions and out transactions. They may well be impressed with our accomplishments. They may also be quite aware of our failures.
There is One that will compassionately observe what we do and how we handle those circumstances. He is the Lord of the Universe. He is our Heavenly Father.
Here’s the bottom line: We may not have a large audience watching our accolades, but we do have One observing how we handle all aspects of our lives.
This Audience of One is what matters most. He will put others in our midst for His purpose, and our part is to obediently serve Him as best we can for His glory.
Win or lose, share your faith!