Daily Devotional for October 16, 2017
Character Training
As Cooper walked home from school, he heard a familiar voice calling
his name. Turning, he saw his Sunday school teacher. “Hi, Mr. Myers!” exclaimed Cooper, running to meet him. “What are you doing on this street?”
“I just came from Jase Herman’s house,” said Mr. Myers. “He and his parents visited our church last week, and I offered to look at a problem they’re having with their furnace.”
“They just moved here,” said Cooper. “Jase seems like a nice guy, but I felt pretty bad for him at school today. It was track and field day, and he was last in almost everything. He didn’t seem to be very upset about it though. He kept cheering everyone else on.”
“It looks like you did all right,” said Mr. Myers with a smile. He motioned toward the red ribbon and three blue ribbons pinned to Cooper’s shirt.
“Yeah,” said Cooper. “I do okay in a lot of the events.”
“Good,” said Mr. Myers. “You must have worked hard to train yourself to do those things. Did you know that the apostle Paul mentioned physical training in a letter he wrote to Timothy?”
“He did?” asked Cooper. “What did he say?”
“Well, he said that physical training has value, but that it’s more important to train yourself to be godly by learning and practicing the things that help you grow as a Christian.”
Cooper thought about that. “So you don’t think Paul would be very impressed with my ribbons?”
“Paul wasn’t putting down physical training. He just wanted Timothy to be even more concerned about being like Jesus and living out his faith.” Mr. Myers smiled. “You deserve to be congratulated on those ribbons, Cooper, but if you hadn’t gotten any ribbons, that would have been okay. Godly character is what’s really important. It’s far more important to be like Jesus than to be good in sports.”
Cooper nodded thoughtfully. “You know what? I think Jase has that. Godly character, I mean.” He paused to look down at the ribbons on his chest. “I think I’ll stop by his house on my way home. I want him to know that he showed he’d trained in something much more valuable than what they handed out ribbons for today.” – Rosalie J. Currier
How about you?
Do you put a lot of value on physical ability and training? It’s good to train your body and do your best for your team, and it’s exciting to be recognized for doing well. But all that is not nearly as important as being like Jesus and showing others His love. So go ahead—train in the sport you enjoy and do your best in it. But more importantly, train yourself to be godly by depending on Jesus to make you more like Him.
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