The internet astounds me. I love the way it connects us with people from all over the world and all walks of life, who might not otherwise have met.
Recently Dr Jeffrey Brown, a clinical and sport psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, contacted me. He’d been reading some of my blogs here at families.com on Christian parenting. As a result, he thought I might be interested in reading his book, ‘The Competitive Edge – how to win every time you compete,’ and had his publisher send me a copy.
If you think the idea of winning every time you compete is overly ambitious, it’s not. The book is all about developing character and integrity, not just in sport but in life.
It reminded me of the passage in Romans 5:3-5,about how tribulation and hardship helps produce perseverance,character and hope.
I found lots of helpful information in this book, some of which I’ll share next week either here or on my livejournal blog
One of the quotes I liked came from the foreword. ‘I think a lot about the fact that most everything I do and say either brings glory to God or reflects poorly on me and Him’ said Danny Wuerffel a former NFL quarterback.
Now I know nothing about American football, but that didn’t matter because the quote struck a chord in me. It started me thinking about my everyday behavior, about the words I say, the things I do, the words I write, in fact, every aspect of my life.
I can look back and see times where God has used me and I might feel that what I did or said brought honor and glory to Him. I can see any number of other times when my words or behavior have had precisely the opposite effect. I suspect if you’re honest you might feel the same about aspects of your life. Does that mean we should stop trying, because it’s all too hard?
No it does not. It means we need to allow God to change us. We need to learn to lean more heavily on the Lord and ask Him to help to change those aspects of our character that need changing and help us be a better witness for Him.
Whether we like it or not, we are a witness for good or bad.
How many people do you know who have been turned off going to church and want nothing to do with Christianity because of the behavior of Christians? We’ve all heard the comments that ‘the church is full of hypocrites.’
Now maybe it is just an excuse on their part for not coming to church and getting to know God. But what if it isn’t? What if something you or I or other Christians have said or done has turned someone away from coming to the Lord at that time?
‘A person’s character really comes out during both the highs and lows of life,’ Danny Wuerffel said.
So as you go through this week and whatever highs and lows life has for you, and I have to say that sometimes life throws some curve balls at us, let’s try to stop and think before we act, before we speak. Take a moment to pray and ask the question, ‘what would Jesus do?’ And then live accordingly.
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