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The best teams and the best teammates learn how to manage both winning and losing in a productive way. I say learn because managing winning and losing effectively can take time.
When you have momentum and when you are winning, try not to get too high. Stay humble, keep working hard, and keep making the next, right play.
When you are losing, don't get too down. Stay hungry and confident, and find ways to make the next, right play.
Success in sports and life are all about making the next, right play.
But doing the right thing is easier when you have momentum and when everything is going your way. Anybody can be a great teammate when things are going great. The best teammates can be a light in darkness and do the right thing when nothing is going right and hope is lost.
Being a light in ALL circumstances is exactly what Jesus called us to do.
In Matthew, Chapter 5, Jesus had just begun preaching when he went up on a mountainside, sat down, and gave his famous Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew, Chapter 5:14-16, Jesus told his disciples:
"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
What does it mean to be a light of the world? Light dispels darkness. You can't have darkness when you have light. You also can't be positive and negative at the same time. As a follower of Jesus, be a light for others by bringing positive energy to everything that you do. That can be hard because negativity often has a stronger pull on people than positivity, but that is why being a light of the world is so important.
There is more than enough negativity in our world. There are more than enough complainers and excuse-makers in losing locker rooms. Bring positivity everywhere you go by being a light that produces love, joy, and peace.
And don't let anyone dim your light by stealing your love, your joy, or your peace. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, and neither can your light if you live and lead with love, joy, and peace. Don't let your circumstances dictate how your light shines; shine bright through the good and the bad.
It is easy to allow the negativity of a toxic team or locker room to turn you into a negative person, but you can't allow negativity to win.
It would have been easy for Jesus to allow negativity to win. He knew that one of his disciples and friends, Judas Iscariot, was going to turn him in to the chief priests and elders, and he knew that they were going to beat him, torture him, and kill him. But what did he do?
He hosted The Last Supper, and he washed Judas’s feet (John 13:1-17). He continued to be a symbol of love, joy, and peace even in the face of death.
Those last days could not have been easy for Jesus. The night he was captured and taken in, Jesus prayed so hard that Luke, a physician and one of his disciples, recorded that Jesus’s sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44). Jesus even prayed that God would take this cup, or responsibility, away from him, but instead of relieving Jesus, He sent an angel to strengthen Him (Luke 22:4-43).
Jesus endured the cross for us. He showed us that even facing the worst circumstances imaginable, we can still bless others, we can still be a light of the world, and we can still share love, joy, and peace.
THIS WEEK
1 - What is one way that you can be a light for those around you?
2 - Storms will come. What can you do, or what is one Bible verse or inspirational quote can you lean on that will help you shine your light through the storms?
3 - Who is someone you might need to be a light for?
For a Google doc version of this devo, click here: You Are the Light of the World
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