Olympic Lessons
Here are five lessons we can learn from the 2024 Olympics:
- Discipline – It takes discipline to be a good athlete, but to compete at the highest level in the world requires extreme discipline. Winners must have extreme discipline.
How many of us are that disciplined about our Christian witness? How disciplined are we in prayer and Bible study? How disciplined are we in carrying out the commands of Christ? - Margin of victory – so many of the events at the Olympics were settled by an extremely small margin of victory. In almost every sport winners won because they had a little something extra to give to create that slight margin of victory. The Men’s 100-meter race determines the fastest man on the planet. Noah Lyles of the USA won by 5/1000th of a second!
How much are we willing to invest to carry out God’s purpose for our life? The margin of victory might be extremely small – am I willing to give the extra effort? The people who gave the greatest effort at the correct time were the ones who emerged as winners. Jesus taught, “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with that person two miles.” (Matthew 5:41) The mile that means the most in life is always the extra effort mile! - Obstacles overcome – I was amazed at the number of stories of athletes who had overcome severe obstacles just to be able to compete in the Olympics. I remember those pictures of the early childhood of some of the athletes who grew up in deplorable conditions, but the obstacles did not stop them.
You will have obstacles in life. Choose to trust Christ to help you overcome your obstacles. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) - Gold medal value – while we call them gold medals, they are not actually gold. They are only gold plated. The amount of gold in the gold medal is just 1.34%. The medals have not actually been gold since the 1912 Stockholm games.
The real value is not in the medal itself, but in what it stands for. In life the things we think are “gold” are just gold plated—not the real thing. Gold plated temptations have been around since the Garden of Eden game. - The burning torch – it is always a spectacular event when the Olympic torch is lighted. It is kept a secret, and every host country tries to do something more creative and spectacular than the other host countries. The flame stays lit for the entirety of the games.
Jesus said that we are the light of the world. Our light is not something that is to be turned on and off at our convenience. What God desires is consistency. Too often we have moments when the flames of our faith are dimmed or go out. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
The most important lesson is not the final score of any event in the Olympics, but the final score of our lives as we strive to win at the most important game in town – life. You can win five times as many Olympic medals as Simone Biles, and still be miserable. The best way to win in life is not to try to get more medals but to lose our self in serving Christ. Read Matthew 16:24-26. That is the big lesson!
You can be a real winner!
