Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
-Proverbs 16:3
I’ve played different sports for as long as I can remember. My mum always encouraged my siblings and me to live an active lifestyle and to take up at least one sport at any stage of our lives. After playing four sports throughout primary and high school, tennis was the sport I decided to continue to pursue in university and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. However, things changed.
Before I started my intentional walk with Christ in my last year of high school, my life was centered around two things: academics and extra-curricular. That focus began to shift as I pursued both a deeper relationship with Christ and a higher dedication to tennis. During tennis seasons, I found myself torn between two extremes: being so in love with my sport that it became my source of worth and fulfillment; and being so amazed by the Jesus that I was getting to know that I started to resent tennis for taking so much of the time that I could’ve been using to strengthen my faith. I was missing church on Sundays and Bible studies during the week because of tennis matches and practices; yet winning matches (or playing well in general) gave me an addictive thrill.
I remember attending a church service back home in Zimbabwe before I came to the USA where the pastor spoke about how we often do things in life that are a part of us (work, sport, school) but they take so much of our Jesus time. We’re constantly missing church because we got an opportunity to make money. We’re going to bed late because our gym session was “fire” and we’re not able to wake up early enough to do morning devotional or to pray. But we justify our “busyness” by saying, “God understands. He wants me to be successful. He wants me to have good grades.” Yet, the Bible says otherwise.
In the Gospel of Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to seek his kingdom before anything else. Everything we worry about: money, school, etc., should all come after our quest for God’s kingdom. The verse that I use to evaluate my standing with Jesus is found in John 3:30. John says that he (Jesus) must increase, and I (John) must decrease. Wow. I realized that my own selfish ambitions had to decrease if the Jesus in me was to increase because, as Matthew 6:24 states, I can only serve one master. I am either serving Jesus, or I am serving money. I am either serving Jesus, or I am serving worldly praise that I receive when I win tennis matches.
But wait, there’s more. While I was in Paris, I didn’t play any tennis. It was a much-needed break and it allowed to truly devote time to my faith. While having this reflection time, I finally understood that I didn’t have to give up tennis. I could serve Jesus and play tennis. As an athlete, I have so much influence (wow, big head?). I have the power to be a light to my coach, my team, other teams, and even the non-athletes. I have a talent and a passion that God gave me and for me to forego it would be a shame.
In the past, when I have been firm in my faith, tennis has been unable to separate me from Jesus. It’s when I am weak that tennis becomes my master. I don’t want to serve the world because I was made for more than that. I won’t lie, it’s challenging to find a balance between using tennis a vessel for change and using tennis for validation. But it’s at the times when I’m putting tennis first that Jesus reminds me who I am in him and that a ball and racquet cannot and will not determine my worth.
Jesus loves you.
With love,
Mandile
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