One Question

Welcome back again for another week, everyone! The thought I want to share with you today is one that absolutely saved my life as a young man, full of love and lust and bad ideas. Now, back then I was always getting into trouble in spite of myself, one way or another. I once managed to accidentally set fire to a highway and stop traffic in both directions. I got away with it, too.

My brother Roger, on the other hand, never put a toe wrong, and I was never able to shake the feeling that compared to him I was… well, Bad. That simplistic word is probably the best one for describing my feelings at the time. Many of you who have been here a while will remember how life-changing I found Romans 7, where Paul describes himself doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not doing the things he does want to do, over and over again—and follows it up with the amazing idea that when this happens, it’s not me doing it. That is, of course, a spiritual perspective, and I try not to assume these sorts of convictions in my readers, which brings me to today’s story.

In more recent years, I met a wonderful man who had spent decades coaching professional athletes, and I was fascinated to hear that in his work, he had taken something to heart which closely mirrors what Paul had to say in Romans.

He said that in all his years of coaching, he has found exactly one consistent common thread: the athletes who “take credit” for their results, have no joy in their lives. When things go well, they are happy but not joyful, and when things go badly they tend to be angry and depressed. But those who don’t take credit seem to have joy all the time.

By “not taking credit,” I mean that they try to just give their best effort and not overly concern themselves with results. When their team wins, they’re the sort to give the credit to God, or their mother, or the offensive line—and really mean it.

This dovetails beautifully with the wisdom of ancient manuscripts, which encourage us to give the credit (they often use the word “glory”) to God. But as is so often the case, my friend’s discovery seems to be evidence that this advice is not given merely for religious purposes, to satisfy some custom or debt, but also for the simple reason that it’s how we humans function best.

Nowadays, I think this attitude is pretty unpopular in many circles. Work is the great American addiction, and I’m sure nearly all of us know someone (or are someone) who is constantly at work, mentally, or who is always fretting over whether the next project will come together or the next deadline will be met. Hard work is a wonderful thing, of course, but ask yourself this question: do these people seem to take joy in it? Food for thought.

Have a blessed, wonderful day!

Dr. Alex Loyd