The Bible employs a range of illustrations to help us comprehend key aspects of the Christian life. Jesus drew from agriculture, fishing, weather, current events, finances, and many other commonly understood topics to illustrate spiritual truth. The writers of the New Testament followed Christ’s example, especially the Apostle Paul, and one of his favorite topics to draw from was sports.

You do not have to be a sports fan to appreciate the parallels between the Christian life and sports. For example, 2 Timothy 2:5 states, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” The word “strive” means “to compete,” or we would say, to be an athlete. Every Christian is an athlete in a spiritual competition. We are runners in a race and wrestlers in a contest that is not physical, but spiritual. And we are already winners, because Christ has won the victory for us.

God has promised to reward us Christian champions if we get in the game and play by the rules. The rewards God gives, the “crowns” scripture speaks of, are the symbols of God’s approval. To receive the reward, we must “strive lawfully. ” Otherwise, we will be benched or even disqualified. As we strive “together for the faith of the gospel,” we must practice grace-powered discipline, “striving lawfully” and resisting our sinful tendency to be lazy cheats.