by Roland Gaspar

Sport depends on a system of scoring to determine which team or individual wins the game. Even so called "friendly" matches have winners and losers according to the end score. Within the range of what we call "sport" there are a multitude of different activities, from games of strategy like snooker or chess, to matches of strength like power lifting, to battles of skill and technology like motor racing. The methods of scoring are as unique as the kind of sport.

We can plainly see that it would be silly to take the scoring system from one game and transfer it to another. It simply wouldn't make sense. (Imagine how a golfer would feel about having the highest score at a tournament!) Why is it then, that with a multitude of varying skills, talents and abilities we often try to measure all people using only one system of "scoring"?

If we measure success by material possessions or the size of a person's income then people like Mother Teresa, Ghandi, and even Jesus wouldn't rate very highly. If we gave positions of influence according to artistic talent alone, we would probably have beautiful parliament buildings, with very disorganised governments! It's strange how people will admire the variety of colour in a rainbow and yet apply themselves wholeheartedly to trying to force everyone into the same mode of behaviour.

Some people spend their whole lives striving to score, and then realise they were aiming at the wrong goalposts! Success is achieved more by the skill developed while playing the game than the points on the scoreboard. The quality of a player isn't determined by the colour of his uniform. 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart."

Never try to measure someone by your system alone. Never try to measure yourself by someone else's system either. Comparison is the mother of dissention. You will always be ahead of some and behind others. The only value in comparison is when measuring where you are, compared with where you've been. The difference is called progress.

The secret of success in life, as in sport, is the love of the game. There aren't many athletes who became champions by hating their sport! When you see life as a sport, each day is merely a new game. You'll win a few and lose a few, but your skill will be growing all the time. Play for fun and you'll enjoy even the days you don't win.