“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…” Titus 2:11-12 (ESV)

I remember the summer I fell in love with golf. I was in seventh grade and my two best friends and I all had junior memberships at a small, nine-hole golf course called Hendricks County Golf Course in Danville, Ind. We played golf every day. Some days, my dad would drop us off at the course at 6 a.m. and pick us up after work at 6 p.m. One day, the three of us walked 54 holes.  When I put my clubs in my dad’s trunk at the end of the day, I rode home talking nonstop, looking forward to the next day.

I dropped about 30 strokes that summer. I was shooting between 110 and 120 at the start and was carding scores in the 90’s by the end. I was so in love with golf I became a better golfer. Perhaps that’s what happens when you love something: You get better. The salvation that Paul talks about in Titus 2 is a powerful saving grace—something you fall in love with—that “trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” When you’re in love with Jesus, you become a better person; you become more like Him.

By Stephen Copeland

Stephen Copeland is a staff writer and columnist at Sports Spectrum magazine. This devotional is taken from our most recent Training Table, a compilation of sports-related devotionals included in each print magazine. Log in here to access our most recent Training Table.