It’s an age-old question people have probably asked since close to the beginning of time. Actually, there is a good chance that Adam and/or Eve had it cross their minds a time or two.

“Why am I here?”

There is something in us that wants to know the purpose of our existence.

Related to that gigantic question is a similar one about your purpose as an athlete. Why are you playing the sport you are playing? What are the most important things you bring to practices and game days? 

Is what you do mainly all about you? Or is it bigger than you? Or to put it another way, what good are you to your team?

ou may jump immediately to the athletic contribution you make. That is what led you to that team, and that is what is probably most often celebrated or even rewarded. 

But is that the highest purpose of you being there? Is winning competitions or even championships the primary aim?

Let’s come at this another way. What can a Christian be or do that they could not do apart from being “in Christ?” And is that of greater significance than all the athletic success one could ever accomplish?

Without diminishing the value of working hard and achieving success, think about the immense value you bring to your teammates, your coach and those who support you and cheer you on. It enriches their lives in ways trophies can’t.

You have reason for being the person you are and where you are, which is rooted in the redemptive plan of God. As a Christian, the athletic gifting you received and have cultivated for much of your life comes with a calling. 

That calling is the good that God intends to deliver to others through you, and it is beautifully captured in a few biblical titles we’ll look at over the next few days.

As a Christian, you are called the light of the world, a letter of Christ, a minister of reconciliation and a jar of clay. Those titles have profound meaning and eternal significance which translates into a whole lot of good for your team if you will embrace the titles by grace, through faith.

Before exploring the good you are for others, take some time today to reflect on the good God has done and is doing in you. It’s vital we recognize that any and all of the redemptive influence we have in the lives of those around us is the fruit of transformation God is producing in us.

The order of things is laid out beautifully in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Let the work of Christ in you be the foundation for the work you do before the eyes of a watching world. More than anything, people need to see less of what you can do, and more of what God can do in and through one who is simply devoted to Him.