A Guide to thanking God after sporting victories

I have been watching a lot of Olympics over the last 2 weeks. Not quite sure how Australia has slipped so far down the medal tally and Great Britain have dominated. They never seemed like much of a sporty nation until recently. When I lived over their I loved the fact that darts and snooker were on prime time tv.

I love the 100m dash and it was awesome to see Usain Bolt take another gold. What a legend! It’s always nice too, to see some of these incredible athletes referencing their faith in God either before or after competing. That said, here is my guide to thanking God after a sporting victory…

Do – thank God for the blessings in your life – family support, opportunities, faith that guides…

Don’t – thank God for victory over your enemies, God guiding your shots into the net, making you physically awesome!

Also, if you are going to thank God for your victory please don’t then get caught for taking drugs, fathering a child with a swedish pole vaulter or getting caught up in a betting scandal.

Final word to Eric Liddell from Chariots of Fire; “You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It’s hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape – especially if you’ve got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you’re dinner’s burnt. Maybe you haven’t got a job. So who am I to say, “Believe, have faith,” in the face of life’s realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, “Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me.” If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.”