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special occasion, where the blessing
of God was involved, Jacob didn't
give up even though his leg was out
of joint.
God was impressed with Jacob's
perseverance-in contrast to Ja–
cob's previous skill at taking advan–
tage of another. God, in fact,
expects all mankind sooner or later
to endure and prevail, especially in
the area where it really counts, in
the battle to conquer sin. Sin is the
breaking of God's commandments
(l John 3:4). "To him that over–
cometh will l grant to sit with me
in my throne," says God in Revela–
tion 3:21. God expects us to put
down any thoughts of sin, to per–
severe and not give in to those
thoughts, but to prevail as Jacob
did. Or if already caught up in a
sinful habit, not to continually give
in to it but to conquer it through
God's help.
Patience: Another true value to
teach in sports is patience. Sports
will always have its obstacles, fail–
ures, delays, trials and pains. Par–
ticipants must be taught to meet
these difficulties with calmness,
equanimity and without com–
plaint.
Youngsters, especially, should
recognize that they won' t blossom
into quality players overnight. It
takes time, effort and practice to
hone one's skills. An error or a lack
of initial skill at a particular athlet–
ic endeavor should be no cause for
discouragement. By diligent prac–
tice skill levels will improve.
How patient are players toward
their teammates? Players berating
other players for shortcomings
build a wrong approach in relation–
ships. Usually the more skillful
pick on the younger or less skillful.
Players need to realize patience
helps to develop confidence, but
lack of it hinders development.
How about patience toward offi–
cials, referees and umpires? Berat–
ing officials in sports is traditional
and customary in most societies.
But booing, shouting or cursing at
the official represents disrespect
for authority. We can attempt to
excuse ourselves with "lt's harm–
less," but it still teaches disrespect
for authority. Parents often aggra–
vate this problem by protesting
decisions in games in which their
children participate. "Little John–
January
1983
ny" sees this example, further
undermining his respect for autbor–
ity- including that of bis parents
doing the protesting.
Teamwork: Team sports provide
an ideal environment for learning
the true value of teamwork, learn–
ing to get along with others. The
individual must interact with other
players, sacrificing personal glory
for the welfare of the team. Players
should be taught that selfishness,
egotism, envy and criticism of each
other quickly evaporates team spir–
it and harms the leve! of effective–
ness of a team just as it does in
everyday life.
These are a few of the many true
values too often left untaught.
There are many others such as
playing by the rules, winning and
Losing graciously, and playing to
the best of your ability.
''
We can safely say
that sports can
be very beautiful or
very ugly.
''
Many people have had negative
experiences in sports because a
sometimes ruthless selection pro–
cess has been allowed to occur at all
levels of sports. Excluding anyone,
and most especially children, from
the opportunity to derive the bene–
fits of sports is devastating to those
so treated. Since vital lessons in
how to live can be absorbed
through sports no one should be
restrained from these opportuni–
ties. Belonging to and contributing
to a team effort builds a healthy
attitude toward life.
Structuring sports programs so
all are included is a worthwhile
goal for those charged with the
responsibility of such programs. All
levels of competency from novice to
highly skilled need opportunities to
develop. Thoughtful planning to
develop challenging lead-up games
for the novice player is especially
rewarding. Such planning enables
beginners to grow more quickly in
skill leve!. lt's also very satisfying
to observe the attitude change from
"I'm not any good" to "Hey, 1 can
play this game a little."
The Ke y t o Playin g Sp orts
t he Ri ght Way
Sports can be beautiful or ugly or
anything in between. It all depends
on the att itude of the players,
coaches and spectators. To know
what the right attitude is we need
to look to our Maker, the great
God. His basic law is !ove, an out–
flowing concern toward others. To
harm the other fellow and to gain
by so doing for self is a wrong
attitude. To conjure up in one's
mind the selfish desire to "beat"
the opponent, to be hostile toward
him or her is not God's way-but
to strive to do your best or to help
your team do its best is right.
Winning or losing is only a by–
product of two teams or individu–
als striving to do their best. We
should not be so selfish that if the
big "I" doesn' t win, it's a disas–
ter.
There is a competitive sptnt
being alive today who is the god of
this world (Il Cor. 4:4) and its
sports. His way is the "me-first"
philosophy by any means. He
broadcasts an attitude of harm,
hostility, selfishness and rivalry to
human minds. Soon, he is going to
be put in a place .where he is
restrained (Rev. 20:1-3) from
influencing human activities, in–
cluding the field of sports. And
God will then make it possible for
us al! to have a different attitude.
The Creator has determined " ...
1
will take the stony heart out of
their flesh, and will give them an
heart of flesh: that they may walk
in my statutes, and keep mine ordi–
nances, and do them ..." (Ezek.
11:19-20). Humanity will be able
to think differently, to have a right
and understanding attitude. And in
the day that Jesus Christ rules the
world-a message we announce in
The Plain Truth-ali
nations will
cometo him to learn the right way
of living. And when they ask con–
cerning the subject of sports, they
will be advised along the lines
you' ve just read. All sports are
going to be beautiful. You can
count on it. o
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