Growing up with a dad who played football and wrestling into college before losing his leg, sports were always going to be part of our lives. Especially in the ’70s, when the choices for entertainment were pretty much “bad ideas” or sports, and the internet was only available to the military and really, really smart people in college. No cat videos allowed.

Dad never pushed which sports we should play. But being named after him, I wanted to try the ones he did. He caught in baseball, so I caught. He played football, so I did too. Wrestling, same. (I figured I’d stop there. Trying the whole leg-amputation thing didn’t seem like something he’d want me to attempt.)

My two favorites were complete opposites. In football you could do everything right and the team still lose, or mess up and have the team carry the load. You had to learn how to be a team. It taught me a lot about living.

Wrestling was one-on-one. Yeah, there was team practice, but at the end of the day it was you against your opponent. You messed up, you owned it. It taught me a lot about taking responsibility. So it also taught me a lot about living.

I’ll never forget the one time my dad told me he was completely proud of me. It didn’t come after a state championship or any win. It came after a close loss. He’d told me he knew I couldn’t win when I took the mat, and that he was proud of me for trying my best and showing sportsmanship against a kid three years older.

Sports taught me a lot about working on teams. Those lessons translate to what Paul reminds the Corinthians about when he talks about our different gifts. God has blessed us all with different gifts of the Spirit. It truly takes all kinds, and no one gift is greater than another. All of them work together for the glory of His Kingdom.

Just a thought from a guy who hands out round tuits every day with Mark 12:29-31 on them, reminding myself and everyone who’ll listen that loving God and loving our neighbor makes us all one big team.

Bible Verses

1 Corinthians 12 / Mark 12:28-34

Questions

What sports do you play now ??? How about when you were growing up ??? What lessons did you learn ???