Ready:
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:13-14
Set:
It happens after every game. Coach speaks; sometimes with a high level of excitement and emotion of the win or sometimes yelling or even silence because of the loss. Either way coach usually emphasizes the mistakes. “We got some things to clean up.” Sometimes a coach will call out mistakes and then say something like, “You know who I’m talking about” without using a player’s name. But everyone in the room knows who is being referred to.
How you handle mistakes is critical to how you practice and play. One thing to realize is that no one does everything completely right all of the time. No one! No one is a perfect athlete. The standard shouldn’t be perfection but striving for excellence. Get better at the sport. Even athletes at the highest-level work hard to improve both what they are good at and what they are not good at. In basketball, if you make 50% of your jump shots, that’s considered exceptional. That means you’re missing half the shots you take. In baseball, if you’re batting average is above .300, that is considered among some of the best in baseball. This means for every ten at bats you get three hits. There are seven misses. How you think about mistakes and how those mistakes affect your thoughts directly impacts your effort.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, one of the fundamental ideas from the Bible is that we should keep our focus looking forward and ahead. It’s not that we forget the mistakes and what was already done, but with a proper perspective and determination, we step forward. When we ask – we are forgiven which frees us to lean forward to what is ahead of us – ahead today, this week, into the future. In Christ, the goal is the prize of the upward call of God. The ultimate goal, the finish line, is heaven and eternity with Jesus. The connection is the daily steps forward in our relationship with Jesus.
Today’s attitudes and actions directly impact the forward and upward journey toward heaven. We learn more from our mistakes as we keep our eyes fixed on the ultimate goal. The emphasis isn’t our missteps but looking forward, straining and stretching forward to the goal. It’s the same in your sport, don’t keep looking at the missteps and mistakes, instead keep focused on the goal, which is getting better as a team, getting better as an individual player, learning and developing with excellence.
Go:
How do you handle mistakes, especially when the mistake is called out by the coach?
What changes for you as a believer when you see that we are to look ahead and not back at our mistakes?
What is the upward goal and call of God in Christ? Is this your ultimate goal?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your call in Christ Jesus, for the upward invitation and journey with You, all the way to heaven. You don’t look at my mistakes, even though they are real – because You have forgiven them. Thank You that You look to and focus on my growth and development in Jesus. Help me see this truth as the pattern for how I handle mistakes. Keep me from allowing mistakes to hold me down or hold me back. I look to You, and I trust You. In Jesus’ name, amen.”