Friendly Competition

Photo credit: Roger Arguello

These past five months as I've embraced the world of CrossFit I've consumed a hearty helping of "friendly competition". I have also learned a few things about the sport of competing. First off, competition can indeed be good. If used at the right time and in the right way, it has the power to propel us as athletes to reach heights we thought were insurmountable. With a little determination and perseverance we can accomplish almost anything we set out to do. However, the downside is that, as with everything in life, extremes can be dangerous. There is a time and a place for competition. Competition is necessary when titles are involved such as in the NBA play-offs yet they should not be carried over from the sports world into real life.

My eyes were opened to a stark reality this past weekend. At the Women's Masquerade Night, our pastor's wife shared with us the importance of recognizing that we are not here to compete with one another but rather to complement each other. We minister to those that we come into contact with on a daily basis and when we're busy trying to measure who has the cutest outfit or whose kids are better behaved, we render ourselves 100% ineffective. Insecurities are what cause us to become competitive. We feel like we've got something to prove and we base our security entirely on the outcome of our performance, appearance, intelligence, and _______ (you fill in the blank). If we are to be successful in God's eyes, than the focus must shift from ourselves to others. This is the Christ-like attitude we must seek to emulate. The one that says, "If I come in second, it doesn't matter. I care more about you than I care about winning."