Tomorrow marks the end of anther Olympics, and the one thing that has stood out to me more than anything else is not only how important perfection is if you want to earn a medal, but also how difficult it is to achieve it.
A few of my friends and I have marveled at how the events (which only a decade ago seemed so sedate and doable) have evolved into death-defying leaps, twists, jumps and speeds. In the effort to be better, the high-water mark of danger and perfection have been raised yet again.
But there are no perfect performances. Some errors can’t be missed while minor flaws not visible to the naked eye require slow motion reviews. But the flaws are still there, and it is often these minute missteps that can cost an athlete a gold, a chance at a medal, or even a personal best. And we have seen how devastating this miss can be for athletes who have trained years for this chance at glory.
Sometimes it was just a caught edge or a small slip but other times it was the weight of expectations, the fear of falling, of failure.
To draw the spiritual parallel, if earthly perfection is impossible, then to think we can be admitted to heaven by our good works is laughable. We can never be good enough because we can never be perfect and even if we could, we couldn’t sustain it; and perfection is what is required in order to be acceptable to a perfect God.
I John 4:18 says that “perfect love casts out fear.” God’s perfect love and grace shown through the sacrifice of his Son saved us from having to earn our salvation by being perfect. And as His love is perfected in us, and we come to a fuller understanding of His love, then we can live without fear—of condemnation, of failure, of rejection—of anything.
Just as we see Olympians’ teammates and family rally around them after they fall, pick them up, give them a hug, and encourage them, when we fall, when we fail, God wraps his loving arms around us and helps us back up. No condemnation.
And just as those Olympians will be able to encourage others in their quest for glory or in their their failures, so we can extend God’s love and promise of salvation to others so that they too won’t have any reason to fear—anything.
A few of my friends and I have marveled at how the events (which only a decade ago seemed so sedate and doable) have evolved into death-defying leaps, twists, jumps and speeds. In the effort to be better, the high-water mark of danger and perfection have been raised yet again.
But there are no perfect performances. Some errors can’t be missed while minor flaws not visible to the naked eye require slow motion reviews. But the flaws are still there, and it is often these minute missteps that can cost an athlete a gold, a chance at a medal, or even a personal best. And we have seen how devastating this miss can be for athletes who have trained years for this chance at glory.
Sometimes it was just a caught edge or a small slip but other times it was the weight of expectations, the fear of falling, of failure.
To draw the spiritual parallel, if earthly perfection is impossible, then to think we can be admitted to heaven by our good works is laughable. We can never be good enough because we can never be perfect and even if we could, we couldn’t sustain it; and perfection is what is required in order to be acceptable to a perfect God.
I John 4:18 says that “perfect love casts out fear.” God’s perfect love and grace shown through the sacrifice of his Son saved us from having to earn our salvation by being perfect. And as His love is perfected in us, and we come to a fuller understanding of His love, then we can live without fear—of condemnation, of failure, of rejection—of anything.
Just as we see Olympians’ teammates and family rally around them after they fall, pick them up, give them a hug, and encourage them, when we fall, when we fail, God wraps his loving arms around us and helps us back up. No condemnation.
And just as those Olympians will be able to encourage others in their quest for glory or in their their failures, so we can extend God’s love and promise of salvation to others so that they too won’t have any reason to fear—anything.
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