Mikaela Shiffrin achieved at age 18 what few could in a lifetime—she became the youngest slalom skiing gold medalist in Olympic history. Swerving around poles at breakneck speed, she outclassed the best skiers in the world by more than half a second to come in first at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia.

Since she was young, playing sports had always been important to Mikaela. Both her parents and her brother could be found hitting the slopes or participating in some sort of athletic activity together: tennis, bicycling or soccer, among others.

Her father and mother, themselves accomplished skiers, encouraged her to better herself by eating right, being balanced, striving to obtain her goals, and analyzing how professional skiers raced. Her father lived by the principle that “humans can go from incompetence to competence in pretty much anything in about 1,000 hours of reasonable effort,” according to The Washington Post, and this drove much of what she did. She continuously tried her hardest to improve herself as much as she could both mentally and physically.

 

Accomplished: Mikaela Shiffrin poses for a picture after a race in Italy in 2012.

Photo: public domain/Paoli Massimo/wikimedia commons

“There’s a lot of science behind it,” she said of her father’s philosophy. “There’s research. It’s accessible to everybody. And it’s not just saying, ‘These champions are alien. They’re superheroes. They’re not from this world, and nobody’s going to get there unless you were born with the right DNA, the right genetics.’

“I don’t believe that. I believe that if you work hard, you put in the right hours and you’re not goofing off, you can build yourself into something” (ibid.).

When she was 13, Mikaela began keeping journals of her thoughts and how she could increase her skiing ability, which many considered a mature act for a young teenager. What made the notes interesting, however, was that they included questions she thought reporters would one day ask her when she achieved her goals.

“For a long time, I’ve believed that if I focus on the preparation, then the results will come,” she told The New York Times.

While it is not our aim to become Olympians, many lessons can be gleaned from sports and the examples of those who participate in them.

“As an athlete, as a ski racer, you have to be able to handle everything, and to be a real champion and to win across the board, for an extended period of time, you have to be able to come up on race day, and no matter what the conditions, fight for the top spot,” Mikaela told The Aspen Times.

Most athletes possess vision, determination, resourcefulness and an incredible belief in the skills they have built. They must be resilient, regardless of the bumps and falls they endure along the way. They must be both mentally and physically strong.

While it takes years for most accomplished athletes to become champions in their fields, the benefits of athletic activities can be achieved by those of any age. Participating in sports now will help cultivate life lessons to ensure success.

Benefits of Activity

We live in a busy age with numerous distractions. Technology, despite its many advantages, has brought a problem—many today are more interested with the content on the screen of a tablet or smartphone than what can be achieved by participating in sports. Few are concerned about the timeless lessons that can be learned through the very thing that participation in sports allows—being active.

Those who know God’s truth should be different. We should appreciate the bodies that God gave us and actively work to keep them in the best shape we can. This will allow us to reach our full potential.

Famous world leaders and sports enthusiasts have recognized the importance of exercise. John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, wrote, “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body; it is the basis of dynamic and creative activity” (Sports Illustrated).

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi described the mental stamina that can be built through playing sports: “Mental toughness is…a state of mind—you could call it ‘character in action’” (vincelombardi.com).

A comprehensive study about the benefits of sports for child development from the United States Anti-Doping Agency also proves there are a host of important life lessons that can be attained by participating in sports regularly. The report states that “sport brings emotional, psychological, and social benefits, as the athlete learns and experiences self-discipline, the joys of achievement, the lessons of losing, the camaraderie of teammates, and the leadership of coaches and teachers.”

Athletics have played an important role in society throughout the ages. Do we take advantage of this opportunity to develop and grow through sports?

God’s Servants and Athletics

The apostle Paul, who recorded much of the New Testament, gleaned lessons from sports. He recognized that certain aspects of participating in athletics could be used to understand how Christians build godly character. He realized that all those living God’s Way, including teenagers, benefit from being physically active.

Consider the following life lessons God inspired Paul to record in the Bible. In I Timothy 4:8, it states “bodily exercise profits little…” This is actually a mistranslation.

The verse should more correctly be rendered “bodily exercise profits for a little while.” This means that as physical beings exercise benefits us. The key is that we have to keep at it. Many studies confirm the advantages of a lifestyle containing regular exercise.

Paul described three interesting analogies related to sports. Each contains a message for God’s people.

The first analogy appears in I Corinthians 9:24. Notice: “Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain.”

Paul illustrated that we should strive to achieve a winning mindset by comparing our lives with a physical race. Christians are all in a spiritual race to win. Did you realize that? A winning attitude is a character trait we should strive to achieve.

This message was driven home in verse 26, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air.” In other words, we should run with a definitive purpose when we compete physically. Christians should also apply this principle spiritually to ultimately achieve victory and salvation.

Also, Paul had much to say about patience and endurance, which are two of the most valuable character traits to develop.

In Hebrews 12:1, he wrote: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

Paul compared our lives—your life—with a long distance race. Patience and endurance are required when competing in these races.

Do you see the connection between all of these analogies? Paul used specifics gleaned from sports to teach life lessons.

In order for him to be able to draw out these spiritual examples, Paul would have had to be familiar with the physical activities. You can do the same.

Take running, for example. You do not have to compete in an actual marathon to experience the effects. Running is all about pushing your body to achieve more than it thinks it can, which can help you build mental and physical stamina. It also forces you to continue on a specific path—even though it may seem too hard. While you may want to quit, you learn endurance and persistence to accomplish a goal.

This physical endurance can turn into part of your character. It can help you become mentally tough and better push yourself to achieve.

To put this into practice, choose a distance that you want to run. It could be around the block or perhaps even a few hundred feet. Time yourself and see how long it took you to get there. Next time, push a little harder at the end to beat your previous time. Do not be afraid to push yourself to run harder and faster each time.

Another way to improve your endurance by running is to force yourself to run for a set amount of time: 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and so on. At a certain point you may start to feel yourself want to give up, but do not! Continue to push yourself until you have met your goal, no matter how much you are huffing and puffing. This will give you increased confidence and satisfaction that you can reach any goal you set.

Learning to physically push yourself will give you a valuable winning mindset and help you throughout your life to “run with patience the race that is set before us.”

Yet this is just one athletic activity. There are many others that can bring numerous benefits.

Good Examples

When selecting a sport to participate in we should be mindful of which type we choose. The Bible warns for instance, “…do violence to no man…” (Luke 3:14).

Avoid any activity where the objective is to physically harm an opponent. This includes boxing, martial arts, wrestling and tackle football. There are many other exciting sports, however, in which we can participate, including volleyball, baseball, cricket, tennis, gymnastics, bowling, swimming, rowing, soccer, rock-climbing, and other non-contact sports.

It is important to recognize your own athletic ability when choosing a sport. For instance, if you know you are good at catching and throwing a ball, then you may enjoy baseball, cricket or softball. If you like to run and jump, then soccer or track-and-field may be more of what you would enjoy.

If you have not played a lot of sports throughout your life, do not despair! There are many ways in which you can build your muscles and hand-eye coordination, which will develop your athletic ability.

For example, practice throwing a ball into the air and catching it with one hand. Also, try balancing exercises. These will ensure that when you pick up a tennis racket or a baseball glove, you will be able to make contact and send the ball where it needs to go or balance yourself while throwing.

Many sports can be played without spending a lot of money. In fact, some can be played without spending any money at all! Buying second-hand sports equipment or borrowing items from friends or family can allow for many hours of fun. When purchasing items, look to local thrift stores for items that are in good shape and still have a lot of use left in them.

Where to Play

Church organized events provide the best environment to play sports. One of the main reasons is because these events are usually supervised by parents or a minister. A second reason is because your friends playing with you are also striving to build character in their lives. This allows for a friendlier and more supportive environment than what is typically associated with sports in the world.

Ambassador Youth Camp is character-building and sports-oriented. It provides a wonderful opportunity to develop your abilities. The Feast of Tabernacles may also provide a unique time for you to explore your interests through hiking or other activities.

Another option is to play group sports, either through your school or local league. These can help you learn to work better with fellow teammates, encourage and support peers, communicate more effectively, deal with disappointment, and examine how your actions affect others. Such skills are especially important to the character-building process.

In addition, by doing a little research, you will discover many sports your siblings or parents can play with you. Those such as baseball, volleyball, tennis, soccer or cricket can often be played for free in a public park or in a surrounding neighborhood. This can take the edge off the seriousness of the game and promote a more relaxed atmosphere—which is especially important if you are just beginning.

It is not uncommon to be a little apprehensive to try new sports. Once you have become used to the rules of a particular sport and the way it is played, though, you will build more confidence. You will then find it easier to play more often and enjoy what you are doing!

Remember Who You Are

Bad sportsmanship, swearing, vanity and a winning-at-all-costs mentality have saturated professional sports today. Few, if any, teams in the world can claim to be free of this kind of behavior.

It is important when participating in organized sports through school or a local league to take caution and explore the social environment around you. By constantly associating with people who do not understand God’s way of life or who are known for bad behavior, you can inadvertently find yourself accepting their conduct. Once you accept their wrong conduct, it is only a matter of time before you may begin to partake with them, which could lead to sin.

Generally, you should avoid socializing with the wrong people before and after these events. Yet remember to be friendly and kind on and off the field. Your conduct speaks loudly.

Although there are consequences for compromising godly standards, we should not flee from sports at the first sign of worldliness among other players. As God’s people, we attend school in the world, we work in the world, and many of us have immediate family in the world. We interact daily with those who do not understand biblical truths.

For instance, when we notice bad behavior at school, we would obviously not just stop attending and shun education altogether. In a similar way, we should not immediately reject participation in athletics at the first sign of wrong conduct. Doing so may cause us to miss out on the many benefits of competing in sports.

Living a godly life means you will have to endure persecutions and tribulations (II Thes. 1:4). Be prepared to stop participation should you feel you are compromising God’s standards. Pure religion is to stay unspotted from the world (Jms. 1:27). This means that the world should not rub off on us and affect our character. If anything, it should be the other way around—with your good character rubbing off on others!

Remember, it is best to first seek counsel from your parents or a minister before you make a final decision on which organized sports you wish to play.

Get Involved!

As we have seen, sports have many benefits for those living God’s Way. They present a wonderful opportunity to apply Matthew 5:16, which states, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Keep this verse in the forefront of your mind in whatever activity you do!

Find and look for ways to participate in athletics. Set a goal, make the time, and start enjoying the fruits of being active. Sports often bring lots of laughter and relaxation. Make sure to enjoy yourself. Determine to stretch your God-given talents—physically and emotionally.

Get ready to build character, grow in confidence, and increase your energy while having fun!