“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” — Matthew 7:12
Personal Mission Statement
Rules. Our lives are full of rules, laws and guidelines. Some people like to say that rules are made to be broken; I am not too sure about that. Yet, without enforced rules, we end up with anarchy. Societal rules vary according to the country, province/state, city/town or community you live in, but they are essential for each to function.
The purpose of rules/laws are to keep a level of order, peace and functionality amongst a group of people. Typically, those who obey the rules are rewarded and those who disobey the rules/laws are punished.
Every sport has a set of rules, as we know, but there will be some variances whether it is because of age or competitiveness level or location. When I was a trainer for a team in the American Hockey League (AHL), I had a coach who one night ripped up the rule book. What happened was that during the pregame skate, someone observed that the opposing team’s goalie had an “added piece” to his pants. So at the start of the game, our coach called the referee over and told him about the rule violation. Not getting any agreement from the ref, the coach then pulled out the AHL rule book. He opened it up to show the ref the rule — highlighted of course.
The referee was not impressed, so he skated away to drop the puck and start the game. In protest, our coach ripped up the rule book, right there on the bench. Well, pages from the rule book fluttered through the air and decorated the floor of our bench. A comical mess that I later got to clean up.
In ancient Israel, the Jewish people had the Laws of Moses to follow. As if those weren’t enough, the religious leaders of the day (Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians) added hundreds of more rules to the list so that there were well over 600 laws to abide by.
Jesus came along and, during His “Sermon on the Mount,” tried to simplify life for the Jewish people. Recorded for us in Matthew 7:12, we read that Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” This has become known as the “Golden Rule,” a solid approach to living your life whether you believe in God or not.
All those rules/laws had become a long list of negative do not do’s. Jesus came to say, “Do good, love others and value other people as much as you value yourself.”
What this can challenge us to do is think and decide, “How am I going to live my life?” Companies call it a mission statement, their purpose for existing. Do you have a personal mission statement? A core purpose and focus to live your life? It can be a challenging exercise to do — to actually give thought and consideration to how you are going to live your life, day in and day out.
Try writing your own personal mission statement. Here is mine: “I strive to help and love the people whom God places into my life.”
— Brian D. Miller
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
