A Purpose Greater Than Yourself
The short excerpt is from David Thomas in his book Remember Why You Play. The author follows the Faith Christian Lions football team during the 2008 football season. Kris Hogan is the head football coach, and below is part of what he told his team after losing in the state championship game. The Scripture is Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Life is about relationships. You guys don't play football just to win on the scoreboard. The first, greatest commandment: Love your teammates. That is why you play football. You don't play for the scoreboard. I know you want to win. I know you're hurt right now. Let me tell you why I like football. Because if the score were reversed now, you would have still had to demonstrate all of the biblical qualities that make a great husband, and make a great Christian, make a great dad. It's perseverance. It's commitment to other individuals. Commitment to a team. You're going to have to do that one of these days when you don't like what's going on in your church. You don't just bail when things get tough. You go to your pastor and you tell him you love him and you fix it from the inside.
You live life with a purpose greater than yourself. That's what sports are about. You're not always going to get what you even deserve in life. On a work scale, you probably deserved to be the state champions. Life is about how you deal with what you get.
Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining
P.S. A movie called One Heart is supposed to come out later this year involving the Faith Lions and the Gainesville State School, a prison school.
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