God's Design

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

I love sports! I love it for many reasons but one of the reasons I really love sports is because of what it reveals to us about ourselves and about God. Having the opportunity to coach tennis has given me an even greater passion for sports as time after time opportunities arise to teach kids about how God desires us to compete and live life.

On our team this spring we have had two girls who are flat out angry when they play. I had an opportunity to sit down with one of the girls after practice and hear her hurting heart. She was so angry because she was not accomplishing what in her mind was her goal. She wanted every ball to go in and they were not...not even close. And why did she want every ball to go in? So that everyone could see that she had the ability to accomplish her goal.

Now there are a number of things that are sinful about this situation. The anger and selfish motivation to name a few. But what God lead me to teach this young athlete was about how He had created her. God had created her to be in relationship with Him. And when we are not living His way, we are not living the way we were designed to live. Anger and selfish motivation are not part of that design. I knew because I had been there before. Always having something to prove and becoming very angry when it wasn't proven. I have missed a lot of balls and lost a lot of points playing this game and the one thing I have finally learned through all of that is just how imperfect I am. That is why I need Jesus so much. Someone had to take the wrath of God for us breaking His law. For those of us who have said: "I am done living life my way and want to trust Jesus with my life and live it His way", we understand that Jesus took the wrath of God that we deserved. Not only that but He rose from the dead and declared victory over sin. Because of Him we can now live a life that is honoring to God through His spirit that indwells those who have trusted Him. That is also why I can have peace when I miss a ball and I can go after the next ball with everything I have for the glory of God because I now know that there is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). We are free from sin and alive in Christ. And for that I am so thankful because I know there is no better place I can be.

Nate Lewis
FCA Area Representative
Western Nebraska