Welcome back fellow fan of your daughter! Yesterday we talked about competition and how it is a part of life. (And about how I am an overly spirited KSU fan. Go Cats!). If you missed yesterday’s post, I encourage you to read it by clicking here.
We focused on how God honoring competition does not:
• harm others emotionally or physically
• create an idol or sin in our life
• seek to glorify self instead of God
As our daughters take to the track, field, stage, or court this year- how will we conduct ourselves should she loose or not make the team?
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we fans of our daughters need to intentionally:
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Keep perspective and remain calm. Competition that honors God seeks to have fun and understands the game or recital is another opportunity for your response and for your daughter’s talent to glorify God. Scripture teaches that there is more to life than winning. God can still be glorified on the bench or in third or last place. Remembering this and asking the Holy Spirit to calm your mind and stomach will help you overcome your fleshly desire to envy, obsess, slander, etc. (Colossians 3:1-2, 17,23; Philippians 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:6-7)
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Sincerely praise the efforts of your daughter, her teammate, her teacher or coach, AND those on the opposing team. Competition that honors God seeks to build up and serve those whom they compete with and against through showing the love and humility of Jesus Christ in word and deed. When we share the love and encouragement of Christ with those we compete with, and against, it brings glory to God and models godliness to our daughters. (Ephesians 4:29-32; Philippians 2:1-11, Colossians 3:5-8, 12-16, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
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Unconditionally love your daughter. A competitive heart that honors God sees past the scoreboard and loves no matter what. As I mentioned in part 1 of this post, it is normal to feel sad or discouraged when our daughter loses or gets cut from the team. Should a tough loss happen, sit with your daughter and let her express her sadness or frustration. It may seem that life is over, but it is not. God is still moving and loves your daughter in ways you cannot even grasp. (Proverbs 3:3; Romans 8:37-39, 12:15; 1 Corinthians 2:9, 13:1-8; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, 4:16-18)
On the flip side, what if our daughter does make cheer captain, or win Prom Queen, Olympic gold, the Miss Teen USA Pageant, or American Idol? If you daughter wins, all of the above still apply.
Whether our daughter wins or loses, is not the point. Glorifying God and drawing our daughters closer to Him is the point. Competition is a part of life, and it is another God ordained opportunity for you both to grow closer to Him.
So fellow mom, game time is upon us- let’s get out there and have fun with our daughters; handling competition in a way that honors God. By the way, did you notice that the first letter of the 3 points above spells out KSU? Why goodness, those are the same letters of my beloved alma mater, the KSU Wildcats! I just love how that happened to work out.
And… because I love my fellow WG contributors Jen Ferguson and Jenifer Metzger- go Longhorns and go Jayhawks!
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