Remember how we used to pick teams, where the two "best" at whatever game you were getting ready to play acted as captains, taking turns choosing their teammates? Sometimes being the last man standing isn't so great after all.
Ever rode the bench, guarded the water bottles, or otherwise watched from the sidelines? It can be hard. I know.
Maybe you've always been a starter.
Perhaps you're that guy or girl who's always been the captain, always been picked first. Maybe you're the one who made the crowd sigh and look anxiously at the coach when you came out of the game.
Then you know it's the leader who gets the blame, the captain who accepts the trophy, or gives it away. You understand the pressure of expectation, the true agony of defeat.
That's not easy, either.
Either way, you're the only you out there.
In some ways, life doesn't change a whole lot as we get older. We still have leaders, teams are still chosen. Games continue to be played, with one team winning, another losing. Someone gets the glory. Another gets the blame.
Despite the overwhelming message of the world, I think winning still matters. It's not everything, but it's something.
What you cannot let it be is the definition of who you are. What I mean is, if you're picked last, you're not a loser. If you're the captain, you're not necessarily a winner. Playing the whole game doesn't make you better than the guy on the bench.
Whatever your role, you are the only you out there.
Be the best you you can be.
If you're not picked to lead that team project, contribute everything you can. If you're passed over for that promotion, fill your role to your best ability. Whether picked first or last, work your hardest.
Do not let your position in life define you. Define yourself by what you do where you've been placed.
As the Bible says in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
That passage doesn't say to win, or succeed, or be the best, it says do your best. The next verse is a continuation of the same sentence and reads, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
You see, God doesn't just reward winners. He rewards workers. Those who do their best. But lest you think I've gone all soft on winning and losing, let me leave you with two more verses, these also from Paul, in Philippians 3:14, 15.
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
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