Does Wanting to Win Make me Prideful?

Balancing Ambition and Faith: Avoiding the Pride of Life

In this episode, Olympic sprinter and Christian mentor Ronnie Baker addresses the intriguing question posed by Akeel_Henry about whether aspiring to be the best in sports is consistent with the 'pride of life' mentioned in 1 John 2:15. Ronnie delves into his personal struggles with balancing the desire for athletic excellence with humility and faith. He shares scriptural insights, emphasizing the importance of one's motivations behind their pursuits. Ronnie explains that aspiring for greatness isn't sinful if done to glorify God rather than seeking personal glorification. Practical steps and questions are provided for athletes to ensure their ambitions remain aligned with humility and faith. The episode concludes with a prayer and an encouragement for athletes to keep their hope in Christ, reinforcing that defeat is optional.

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Transcript

Ronnie Baker 0:00

you want to be the best, but is that desire from God or is it pride? Now, I will tell you, there is a way out of this thinking that allows you to still have the desire to win and not be prideful about it. I figured it out and I got back to my winning ways and here's how. I'm Ronnie Baker, your favorite Olympic sprinter and Christian mentor discipling you on how to navigate your faith in your sport. In today's devotional, we're gonna be answering the questions submitted by Akil Henry, good friend of mine, I've actually been chatting with him and he asked this question, is aspiring to be the best in my sport consistent with the pride of life spoken of in First John two 15? This is a spicy one that I can't wait to dive into. And if you wanna get in on the action and have a question answered on the Defeat is optional podcast, you need to go over to the Defeat is Optional podcast page located on Instagram. And give me a follow and be on the lookout for the polls. I do, and maybe your question will get selected and I'll create a devotional specifically for you. Let's be brutally honest. Most people who do sports have one goal in mind to be the fastest break records and win medals. At least that's how it was for me. I am relentless in my pursuit to greatness, and I wasn't taking no for an answer. But as I've gotten older and more wise, I've had to ask myself, why do I want this so badly? Is this for God's glory or is this for me? And I think this is the big underlying question behind the question this week of, is my desire to be the best in my sport consistent with the pride of life talked about in First John? So let's start with a story. I actually struggled with recognizing the difference between wanting to be the best. And pride for a few years. In 2023, I wrestled with this so much. I remember this was one of my main mental struggles. On one hand I said to myself, I need to be confident that I can win and I need to want to win. Otherwise, why am I working my butt off every single day? And then on the other hand, I would tell myself that thinking that way was selfish and prideful, and I should just be content with being able to compete in the first place. I should just be content with the ability that God gave me and that's it. I used to think to myself, why even work so hard if being the best means I'm prideful, right? I don't wanna be prideful in God's eyes if I'm trying to be the best. If those two correlate, then I can't do both at the same time. Because you can see my dilemma and probably the dilemma of a few of us as Christian athletes out there. We wanna honor God with our gifts, but we don't wanna let ourselves get in the way. We don't wanna be sinful while we do it. This can be very tricky to navigate and can mess with your head like it did mine for years. Now, I will tell you, there is a way out of this thinking that allows you to still have the desire to win and not be prideful about it. I figured it out and I got back to my winning ways and here's how. Let's start in scripture one. John two 16 says, for everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. The aspiration to be the best in your sport isn't automatically the pride of life warned about in one John two 16. The problem most of us have is that we associate winning automatically with being prideful, and that's not true. The kind of pride in one John speaks to self conceit, worldly status and self glorification, not godly ambition. The problem isn't that success is sinful. John is warning us about what drives us. So you can train to win and still walk humbly. If your goal is to glorify God and not self exultation. Two athletes can chase the same medal and one is prideful, and the other is faithful because of their why behind it. So everyone always talks about giving God glory, and I just wanna dive into that a little bit deeper because most people don't even ask themselves what that looks like or what that means. Yeah, but hear me please hear me. Wanting to run fast, train hard or win isn't sinful. It's when you're motivated to win out of wanting to be seen. It's a self exalting posture that says, look at me. Look what I've done. That's when you get pride. That's where pride comes in. the pride of life isn't just about feeling proud, it's about chasing significance apart from God. It's the need to prove your worth and press others, and elevate yourself often at the cost of intimacy with God. Aspiring to be great isn't pride, but aspiring to be great for your own glory. That's where it takes a turn for the worst. Jesus was excellent, but never prideful. Think about Jesus. If we are going to look at anyone for an example, let's look to the one who was perfect, who never sinned, who never made a mistake. Jesus never sought status, applause or ego. Jesus had all the power in the world. He healed the sick, casted out demons, and he even raised people from the dead, and he could have done it all for the recognition of the people around him. But think about it, He didn't perform miracles to go viral. He didn't teach to gain clout. He didn't heal for a brand deal. He did it all for the glory of his father. Philippians 2, 6, 7 says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Jesus modeled what it looks like to walk in power without pride, to win on the big stage, but not be prideful about it. So here's what I learned, and hopefully you're starting to understand that God's not against excellence, he's against ego. Colossians 3 23 says, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. That's the freedom of a Christian athlete. You don't have to perform for approval. You've already been chosen, adopted, and loved. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, and that's what I take into my competitions now. So here's your practical challenge. Here's your heart. Check for you athletes out there, and this is how you're gonna know if you're entangled in the pride of life when it comes to being an athlete. Alright, practicality. Step number one. Let's get out of this mindset. You have to ask yourself these questions. Number one, why do I want to be the best? Is it about others worshiping your talent or your talent pointing people to God? One of the biggest examples of this is John the Baptist. John the Baptist, had a very important role. This man was supposed to clear the way for Christ, the Messiah to come. He's pretty important, but what he does is that he takes what could have been his own clout, what could have been people following him. He takes all that recognition that he could have had for himself and he points it to Jesus. this has to be our hearts as athletes. Question number two, to ask yourself to really check your heart. Would I still pursue excellence if no one ever noticed? Because true discipline isn't driven by applause, it's driven by obedience. Would I still pursue excellence if nobody noticed? Would I still pursue excellence if I knew I wasn't gonna achieve my goals? That's a good question to ask. And lastly, can I compete without comparing my value to others? Because pride typically can't handle another person shining, but humility can. So ask yourself, do you get upset when your peers win or when your teammates win, or when someone else gets a shot and you don't? That could be a sign that you're trapped in what we call the pride of life that is talked about in one John two 15. So to answer your question directly, is striving to be the best in your sport consistent with the pride of life talked about in one John? I'd say no. Aspiring to be the best isn't sinful. But if you let pride, the want for attention from the world, and recognition that places you on a pedestal drive that dream. If you let those things drive your ambition, it'll destroy you. But when your pursuit for greatness is rooted in humility, discipline, and the desire to glorify Christ, you can go as far as God allows you to go and never lose who you are in the process. So let me pray for you. God, search my heart. If I've been chasing greatness for my own glory, show me. Refocus my desires. Let me strive for excellence, not to impress the world, but to reflect you. Strip away the pride of life and clothe me in humility. Amen. Don't forget to grab your defeatist optional wristband, a reminder that through Christ you can never be defeated. That will be linked in the show notes and if you've got a question you want answered on the podcast, go to the defeatist optional Instagram page and submit your question for the next drop. If this encouraged you today, share it with another athlete who needs to hear this. And if you're still trying to figure out how to balance faith in sport, i'm gonna let you know right now that you're not alone. Keep showing up. Keep trusting God. And remember, defeat is optional when your hope is in Christ. I'm Ronnie Baker and I'll see you in the next one.