Original Entry: March 11, 2008
McMinnville, OR
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:3-4
A highlight of my youth was when Mr. Whiteford delivered our 3rd place trophy to my house in recognition of going from last place team in the city to third in one short year. The next two seasons would prove us to be city champs! I kept those trophies for years before parting with them.
If there is one thing that really bothers me about recreational sports in our community it would have to be the notorious Participation Trophy! That’s right, in our community children get some kind of medal or trophy to hang around their neck or on the wall at the conclusion of each sport. In my opinion they are meaningless in teaching our kids to do their best, compete, and try to win. For some reason, well meaning people have attempted to remove the importance of competing from the equation by giving all players a “participation trophy.”
That could not be further from real life.
As man I am told to not only participate on God’s team but to win. Win, not only on a spiritual battleground but compete to “win favor in the sight of God and man” (NASB). As a man matures in Christ his competition changes from being others-focused to God- focused. Let me explain. A man’s adult life is spent competing against his limits, fears, flesh and bodily temptations. He will never receive a medal or trophy for this but verse 3 tells him to “not let kindness and truth leave you.”
“Kindness and truth” are the medals he must be chasing.
The win a man hunts for is not against another competitor but the fiercest competition he will ever face-himself. Similar to that famous quote, “I have seen the enemy and he is us.”
A man’s greatest enemy is not Satan. His greatest adversary is staring back at him every morning in the mirror!
“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (James 1:13-14).
The ultimate win for a godly man is the status of knowing that he has finally defeated the self and was blessed to “win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man”.
Winning favor goes ways beyond some participation trophy that every player receives regardless of skill or effort.
