Connect with us

Feature

WHY WE PLAY THE GAME: PRIORITIES

[sixcol_five_last]

By Jared Baldwin

As I peck away at this much overdue installment for GSPN I am also watching a documentary about the use and abuse, myths and facts about steroids. It is timely for me because I knew that I wanted to write an article about the importance of sports. You see, compared to many things in life, sports are much less important. Acknowledging that fact, do we dispense with athletic endeavors altogether in exchange for the highest priorities?

First, let’s be honest about the things that are definitely more important that sports. God and our personal relationship with Him is number one.Sports Matters

“It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. You could never pay back enough to buy back your life,” Jesus.

Likewise, church, the place we go to worship God, is also extremely important in our spiritual growth.

Family, a God given relationship, is our highest earthly priority. Work, our mode of providing for our family is extremely important.

Friendship, service to others, charity, education, health and many other things would rank in the “more important than” list.

These areas in life are all priorities that every person must reconcile with on a daily basis. When these things take a back seat to pursuits of lesser importance, our lives get complicated and confusing.

So where do sports fit into the mix? Do sports matter at all in light of the bigger picture of our lives? I would say “yes” a resounding “Yes!” but with a disclaimer.

Let’s look at each of the most important areas of life, and incorporate sports. Starting with the biggest, God, can sports bring glory to God, as they say in Minnesota, “Yep, you betcha.”

When an athlete works hard and acknowledges the One who gave him or her the opportunity and ability to play, they give credit where credit is due and validate the existence of sports. Church and sports, although they can be at direct conflict when the softball league and the worship service are scheduled for the same time, can bring brothers and sisters closer together.

Family can benefit from sports. I cannot think of something I enjoy more than watching my kids play for their club or school teams. Work, some people make sports their work and provide for their families. Others are able to use sports as a way to lose of the stress of the workplace, making them a better employee when they clock in the next day. Likewise, all of the other areas have obvious correlations: friendship, service, charity, education and health all can be totally compatible with athletics.

But here is the disclaimer, when sports overshadow the higher priorities of life, we need to take a step back and put the sports back in their place.

Sports are not everything. But if we can utilize them, and take the best of what they can provide, they are valuable.

Jared BaldwinJared Baldwin has been coaching youth sports for more than 15 years. He has been involved in sports as a coach, a fan, a parent and an athlete. He and his wife Tammy, and children Kayla, Andrew and Zachary lived on Guam from 2002-2009 and then returned to Guam in July 2011. He used to write for Directions magazine and works for Harvest as a cross country coach at Harvest Christian Academy and assistant Pastor at Harvest Baptist Church.

 

 

It’s Fun! Part I

Competition Part II

Endurance Part III

Sportsmanship Part IV

[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/gspn/why-we-play-th…ame-priorities/” type=”button”] [fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/gspn/why-we-play-th…ame-priorities/” style=”standard” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]

[/sixcol_five_last][useful_banner_manager_banner_rotation banners=38, 53, 9 interval=8 width=120 height=600 orderby=rand]

Ad

GPS Sports Calendar

February

March 2024

April
SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
25
26
27
28
29
1
2
Events for February

1st

Events for March

2nd

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Events for March

2nd

No Events
Events for March

4th

Events for March

5th

Events for March

6th

Events for March

7th

Events for March

8th

Events for March

9th

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Events for March

9th

No Events
Events for March

11th

Events for March

12th

Events for March

13th

Events for March

14th

Events for March

14th

No Events
Events for March

16th

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Events for March

16th

No Events
Events for March

17th

No Events
Events for March

18th

No Events
Events for March

19th

No Events
Events for March

20th

No Events
Events for March

22nd

Events for March

22nd

No Events
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Events for March

24th

Events for March

24th

No Events
Events for March

25th

No Events
Events for March

27th

Events for March

27th

No Events
Events for March

28th

No Events
Events for March

29th

No Events
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Events for March

30th

No Events

COMING SOON …

4th Quarter Sports

  • Guam Marathon

QUICK HITS

The Oceanview Knights are your 2024 ISA Middle School Girls Soccer League champions! The Knights beat out the Astumbo Dragons 3-2 in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw after regulation and OT of the championship game.
————————————–
Roque Martinez regains his Deep MMA megaton belt with a unanimous decision win over Ryo Sakai in Tokyo Saturday night.
It was a unification bout in which Sakai won the title after Martinez vacated it in 2019, prior to joining the UFC. Martinez just turned 38 on March 4.

More in Feature