Saturday, April 5, 2014

5 Things Tennis Taught Me About The Christian Life. . .

     1.  The one you serve to is the one who decides what is permissible and what is not.  In junior high and high school tennis there are no officials.  The one you serve too determines if the ball is in or out.  Just like in life, who you serve determines your belief about what is right and what is wrong.  If you are serving to the world and bowing down to its standards more things are permissible and are “in” for you to do.  But if you are serving God then the calls are made tighter and the things that are riding the line are called “out” for your benefit.   

2.        Love -  In Tennis everyone starts out 0-0 which 0 in tennis is called “Love”.  We all start out with love but the score changes with the serve.  In life we also start out with love in this world but unforgiveness,  hardness of heart,  and the circumstances we are served can take our love away but our love can also grow through service to others,  forgiveness, and a heart for God.  With each moment you either serve God or the world with your love

3.        Serving and Being Served -   In tennis to be successful you have to know how to serve and how to return the serve.  In life, you have to know how to serve God and how to serve those around you but you also have to know how to accept others service.  I know a lot of people who are incredible at serving others but when others try to help them by returning the favor they become uncomfortable with it.  We have to learn how to serve others and how to accept the blessings of others serving us.

4.       . You can lose some battles but still win the war.  In tennis you can be down 0-5 in a set and rally back to win but to do that you have to let go of your mistakes and keep a positive attitude that you can do this.  Just like in life, you will make mistakes but you can’t let your mistakes negatively impact your present or your future.  You have to shake it off and keep battling back to win in life.  If you are a christian you know ultimate victory comes when you reach Heaven!  You'll lose some battles here but you will ultimately find victory!


5.        Tennis Etiquette -  It’s customary for fans and coaches to be quiet through a match.  While a player is serving and throughout the point it is so quiet.  Tennis demonstrates how important having quiet times are in life.  Times where you only hear your own thoughts.  Times when if one person is talking to you that you clearly can hear them without any outside noise.  Tennis demonstrates how to keep boundaries in place in order to keep things calm and quiet.  In life taking the time to be quiet so that you can clearly hear from Him is of the utmost importance.

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