Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
My Owen loves to play football. Before he was old enough for school ball he played on a youth team, and man did he enjoy it.
One of those years his team won one game. One game.
They practiced hard and played hard, but they just couldn’t pull off a win.
I credit his coaches for instilling in the boys the love of the game, even in loss. They encouraged those boys continually. And each week the kids went out and gave it their best. And they never stopped believing in their potential to win.
It’s hard to watch your kid lose week after week, but we tend to learn more from loss than from a win don’t we? Repeated loss is humbling, and wisdom comes when we are humble.
I think of that old football movie Rudy. Rudy dreamed of playing Notre Dame football. He was small. He was poor, and nobody really believed in him. But he never gave up believing in his potential to play, and his long hard road to being a part of the Fighting Irish shaped him into a man of character.
Of course I love to see my kids win when they play sports, but above that I prefer to see them have a humble attitude. Not one of cockiness and self-importance, but one of character that exudes an understanding of the value of loss and appreciates the joy of simply playing the game.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I pray that as my kids compete in various activities, you teach them humility through loss. I also ask that that humility will carry over into their wins. Amen.
