Letting Go

So I play for a football team called Ambassadors FC and tonight we played in the final of the shield in a competition we are in. It was a pretty good game, competitive, end to end stuff but unfortunately we lost.

Yeah it was really disappointing especially how we got back in the game really well. And it got worse because I think I was kind of responsible for their winning goal. That sucks. I felt crap about it. I felt like I had let the whole team down. I just wanted to get changed and go home.

But I realised that how I treated this game is a lot like how I treat life. You see I played pretty well otherwise. The whole team did. But I did my bit and worked hard. One short moment of lacking in concentration was the only major mistake I made the whole game. And yet that one moment ruined the game for me. I instantly forgot about all the good things I did and how I helped the team the rest of the match.

I treat life the same. I am not suggesting that I am so amazing and I never put a foot wrong in life, because I do. A lot.

But a lot of the time I sin. I can go through life doing pretty well with God and then do something stupid and I beat myself up for ages. I can't seem to get rid of the thought that I have let God down and the people I love and who love me. It taints everything else in my life. I just want to go home and forget about God and what I did.

And this brings me to the match. I made a mistake that cost us the game but afterwards nobody mentioned it. It wasn't brought up. I left imagining the rest of the team staying behind to have a go at me. But yet nobody had a go at me or blamed me. That's pretty special.

My favourite verse at the moment is Romans 8v1 (NLT)

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus"

All the thoughts I had in my head about everyone blaming me were false. And the same is true of God. When I mess up and stray from the path he intends for me he doesn't blame me. He doesn't rub it in or remind me of it to make me feel bad. Becuase right now, in this moment, in every moment I'm not to blame. I can carry on knowing that there is nothing on me.

And that means I can get on with becoming more who God wants me to be without becoming so inward thinking that I simply come to a standstill. God wants us to remember that there is no more blame to dish out so why waste time dwelling on our mistakes. We can let them go. They are not ours any more. And that motivates. It motivates me to keep going. I hope it motivates you too.

Posted in: Ambassadors,Blame,God,Grace