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Freedom in losing

The last day of our summer camp, I told the kids about my first tennis game in high school.  It was a game that skill-wise I should have won, but I was so nervous and afraid of messing up that I totally blew the game.  It was only after I was one game away from losing the match that I relaxed and just played, after all, in my mind I had already lost, there was no stress.   And then I started winning.  But after winning four games in a row, I thought, “Wow, I might actually win this game.”  Then the stress returned … and I lost. 

I focused on that time in the game where I had pretty much lost, but the game just wasn’t over yet.  There was an awesome freedom that comes when you know you’ve lost and you just get to play.  You can experiment, and if you mess up; who cares you’ve already lost.  If you do good, it feels good and you can enjoy it without worrying if it’s good enough. 

Life is a lot like that tennis match.  I have spent a lot of my life thinking to myself, “Don’t mess up.  Just don’t mess up.”  And do you know what I do next?  I mess up.  Every time. 

That’s what being saved by Jesus Christ is about.  My whole life I’ve been a “good guy” but I know that I am not good at all.  I’ve lost.  I continue to lose and always will.   So will you. 
So, here is the truth.  We have already lost.  We can try as much as we want and you will never earn our way to heaven.  You lost, you are sinner.  And God says that we must understand this.  

If we don’t say that we are lost and are sinners then we will never tell God three words, “I need you.”  And if we don’t understand that we need God then we will never ask him to forgive us and save us.  And if we don’t ask Him to forgive us and save us, He never will.  God gives us the choice.

Forgiveness and salvation are His gift, and it is always in His hands.  But he is waiting for us to ask for it. 

But here is what can happen when we accept his forgiveness and salvation.  We can have fun. 

I am a sinner.  That means I already lost at life.  But God’s free gift is that I get to win.  I don’t have to do everything right.  I don’t have to win because He did.  I can just do what is right and when I mess up … God still loves me. 

That is how God wants us to live.  We have lost.  But God won and He offers us eternal life.  When we mess up … God still loves us.  When we do the wrong thing … He is still with us.   When we forget that we need Him … He is doing things in our lives to show us how much He loves us. 

But it is our choice to start living in that freedom.  The gift is always in his hands. 

My prayer is that the kids understood what I said and what God has taught me.  I pray you understand it too. 

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