I’m captain of a USTA men’s team (as in tennis…), and we have our first tournament on April 27th. The excitement is building!

Last night, our coach shared bits of wisdom to mentally prepare us for the matches. And one point he made was very helpful to me.

He taught:

You have no control over whether you win or lose. You have no control over the other players. But you do have control over your own playing. And that is the one area of concern where you need to focus all of your attention.

He wanted us to quit thinking about winning, and concentrate on playing our very best.

He pointed out that if you play your very best you are doing all you can do to win the match. And if your opponent wins, then he’s a better player than you are, and he deserves to win. But if you focus on winning, rather than playing your finest, your thinking is distracted, and you err when you would not ordinarily err.

Wise words! I decided. And not just for tennis, but for all of life’s activities.

In marriage, in relationships, at the office, in the business world, on the playing field, if our motive was to be the best representative of God we could be, rather than to beat out the competition, wouldn’t there be less envy, jealousy, elbowing, strife and heartbreak? The best in human character would surface rather than perhaps the worse, and we’d perform better all the way around.

When we play to be the very best we can be, rather than to win, our thinking stays focused on doing well, on the building of character, virtue, and godliness–qualities which improve the effectiveness of our work and increase our success. The long run effect of this approach is always healthy and progressive, and we’ll end up a winner in the activity of Life whether we bring home a trophy or not.

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul