~James 1:17
Perhaps you may recognize this guy. Most people probably recognize him now as the greatest Olympian ever. Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian with 22 medals (18 of which being gold) certainly has put forth a lot of hard work into his sport. Back in Beijing '08, I cheered him on as he won the most golds ever. This year, I was not as excited for him to meet all of his goals. Why?
This guy right here, Ryan Lochte. I must admit, I followed my cousin's lead of fandom for this amazing athlete. I wanted to cheer for the underdog, because I realized that Michael Phelp's head seemed to be getting a little big in different swims I've seen over the past 4 years. It was looks of "WHAT?!" if he didn't place first.
The London Olympics have shown me other things I am not sure I like seeing. First of all I saw this:
I am sure it is disappointing to so close and yet so far from a gold medal, but seriously, how many people would love to win a silver? We all make mistakes, and I am sorry that Mackayla's happened when it mattered. However, this is not an attitude I would want to display to the world.
Being a sore loser is bad, but so is being a sore winner:
The look of this is what I expected is boastful. This girl's actions all week seem to have been horrifying as she threw fits like a toddler when she lost. How sad for the greatest athletes in the world to act like this.
I love the Olympics, and I support Team USA. I believe that their accomplishments are the result of hard work. I can't imagine the disappointment when you work so hard for something yet miss your goals. However it comes down to the fact that our gifts come from the Lord. All athletes in the Olympics trained for gold, they qualified for gold, and when it comes down to it, there can only be one winner. I can be competitive in certain situations, but I pray that my competitive spirit is one that brings honor and glory to God. Just like this girl:
Or like the girl who said coming 4th in the Olympics is not a bad thing:
How often do Christians destroy their testimony by letting the spirit of competition flatten their testimony? It is so ugly the way we let sports, games, tests or whatever drive us to act like we are the center of the universe. Watching the different attitudes of Olympians have made me more mindful of this. I am not saying that all of these athletes are Christians necessarily, but either way sportmanship speaks volumes. I root for the underdog who displays gratefulness to be where they are. Those who just expect greatness and tolerate nothing else do not deserve the glory in my opinion.
After all....."every good gift comes from above...." What does man really deserve?
No comments:
Post a Comment