Win Fairly

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2 Timothy 2:5

And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

 

Bible Reading for a Year [bible]psalm45[/bible]; [bible]iitim3[/bible]; [bible]isaia43-44[/bible]

FIFA Fair Play football tournament 2011 is one of the most memorable football events among the football lovers. One of the memorable moments is when Paulo di Canio’s team, West Ham, met Everton. At that moment, di Canio’s act was quite surprising. He chose to end the game when there was a great opportunity to score goal for West Ham.

At that moment, Everton’s goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was lying, so Everton’s net was unoccupied. In such circumstance, di Canio should have taken the opportunity to score a goal using feed he received. But he caught the ball and asked the referee to pause the game and help Gerrard who was injured. He chose to play fair and compete according to the football rules.

That’s why people remember him until today. Later, he was awarded FIFA Fair Play Award in 2001. He deserved the award for his courage and fairness. He decided to release his ambition to win and prioritized sportsmanship.

Timothy tells us this idea so that we prioritize sportsmanship, fairness, and honesty according the rules in a competition. An athlete will be a champion only if he competes according to the rules (read 2 Timothy 2:5). To win unfairly is not the character of a real sportsman.

And so it is with the journey of life; we should be like Paul who have fought the good fight and finished the race (read 2 Timothy 4:7-8). Let us follow the example of di Canio or Paul; being a winner elegantly with sportsmanship. To win without fairness is to lose honor, and to win with it is worth a crown.

 

Obeying the God’s rule leads us to be a real winner

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