How often do you turn on Sports Center and see someone blowing their own horn? How often does it blow up in their face?
If you watch sports very often, then you know this happens frequently. There's the player who brags before a game about how they will walk all over an opponent because of who he is and that his performance alone will put his team on top only to go out and play the worst game of his life. Or the player who is showboating in the middle of a sure touchdown run, only to be ran down from behind and have the ball stripped away and returned by the defense (yes, Miami fans...I am speaking about Alabama's George Teague running down Lamar Thomas and robbing him like he owed him money!) Result: No touchdown for the Canes!
The great coach from the University Of Texas, Darryl Royal said it best. He once quipped, "Act like you've been there before!"
Football has long been one of my favorite sports, but in baseball I have to give respect to how difficult a game it is. You have to decide in a 1/4 of a second whether a ball going 90 mph is a fastball or a slider. I can appreciate someone who has just slammed one of those things 400 feet into the right field bleachers running around the bases cheering and beating his chest but if you do this too often and show up that pitcher you most certainly will be having that 90 mph fastball whizzing past your head or hitting you in the back the next time up. Basically, it's ok to be excited about doing something great but do it with humility.
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14 ESV
In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells us about an incident of "showboating" in the story of the praying Pharisee and the tax collector. Picture this with me: Both men are in the temple at the same time. The Pharisee, a religious leader, thanked God aloud that he wasn't a sinner like the others that prayed around him. The tax collector lamented and grieved over his sins with regret to God. One was seeking self recognition and the other forgiveness. To the shock of those listening to Jesus, He says it is the tax collector who is justified before God and not the Pharisee. He finished up by telling them this, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
OK, I have a question for you....
Have you caught yourself displaying a "pharisee's" attitude lately?
Trust me when I tell you that it can happen to any of us. And so can falling flat on your backside and being made to eat crow.
If you watch sports very often, then you know this happens frequently. There's the player who brags before a game about how they will walk all over an opponent because of who he is and that his performance alone will put his team on top only to go out and play the worst game of his life. Or the player who is showboating in the middle of a sure touchdown run, only to be ran down from behind and have the ball stripped away and returned by the defense (yes, Miami fans...I am speaking about Alabama's George Teague running down Lamar Thomas and robbing him like he owed him money!) Result: No touchdown for the Canes!
The great coach from the University Of Texas, Darryl Royal said it best. He once quipped, "Act like you've been there before!"
Football has long been one of my favorite sports, but in baseball I have to give respect to how difficult a game it is. You have to decide in a 1/4 of a second whether a ball going 90 mph is a fastball or a slider. I can appreciate someone who has just slammed one of those things 400 feet into the right field bleachers running around the bases cheering and beating his chest but if you do this too often and show up that pitcher you most certainly will be having that 90 mph fastball whizzing past your head or hitting you in the back the next time up. Basically, it's ok to be excited about doing something great but do it with humility.
“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14 ESV
In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells us about an incident of "showboating" in the story of the praying Pharisee and the tax collector. Picture this with me: Both men are in the temple at the same time. The Pharisee, a religious leader, thanked God aloud that he wasn't a sinner like the others that prayed around him. The tax collector lamented and grieved over his sins with regret to God. One was seeking self recognition and the other forgiveness. To the shock of those listening to Jesus, He says it is the tax collector who is justified before God and not the Pharisee. He finished up by telling them this, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
OK, I have a question for you....
Have you caught yourself displaying a "pharisee's" attitude lately?
Trust me when I tell you that it can happen to any of us. And so can falling flat on your backside and being made to eat crow.
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