By Mindy Lee Hopman for CHRISTIAN DAILY INTERNATIONAL
In the world of athletics, the pressure to prove is relentless. Athletes try to earn starting spots, coaches try to build winning programs and everyone hopes to earn respect from teammates, fans and parents. The message is loud and clear: Prove your value. Earn your worth.
What if the most important things about us (our worth, identity and value) have already been proven? What would it look like if we competed, coached and lived not for love, but from love?
Here is the good news: We are loved wholly and unconditionally by the One who created us. We don’t need to earn His love or chase approval through performance. Christ is love, and in Him we have an identity we could not earn ourselves and can never lose.
Coaches and athletes are high performers wired to pursue and achieve high goals. Our drive can be a good thing, but it can also lead us to look for love and validation in places that were never meant to hold the weight of our identity.
