Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? I’ve always looked forward to the Games. One year, I had my tonsils removed just a few days before they began. The experience made me question my life choices 🤣😬. Let me advise any adults considering that surgery to think long and hard. Since I could do little more than lie on the couch, I watched the Olympics for hours, painkillers in one hand and an ice pack in the other, convincing myself this was excellent timing.
One of my favorite events to watch is gymnastics. I’ve been captivated by the sport since I was young. At one point, I even convinced my mother to enroll me in gymnastics classes. It did not go quite the way I imagined. Let’s just say no medals were involved, and my career as a gymnast faded quickly.
If you’re new here, just fyi, I’ve had many career paths. Check this one out.
The Olympics and mental gymnastics
I recently heard a new phrase: “mental gymnastics.” Apparently, it applies to the impressive ways we twist, flip, and contort our thinking. Since I once dreamed of being a gymnast, I am relieved to announce that I have finally found my event. In the mental gymnastics category, I am elite. For years, I have competed in multiple divisions of this highly demanding sport:
- Loving those I disagree with. I have been known to twist myself into impressive positions to avoid the clear command to love (see Ephesians 5:2). The routine usually involves explaining why this particular situation is an exception. It never is.
- Having a gentle spirit. The backflips I have performed to justify a sharp tone could earn high scores. And yet Scripture calls me to let my gentleness be evident to all (see Philippians 4:5).
- Seeing people not through my fault-finding lens, but through God’s mercy. My eyes are often quick to notice what is wrong. God’s eyes see with redemption in mind. I, too, live by mercy (see 2 Corinthians 5:16).
There are plenty of events in this sport, but these three are my specialties. I’ve stood on the podium winning more gold medals than I can count. But humility medals, though, not so much.
The problem with this kind of “sport” is that God has a better game plan for us. Mental gymnastics might earn you some gold medals in cleverness, but eventually, you will stumble, and the fall hurts. Recovering from that kind of injury is not easy.
God does not want us carrying emotional bruises around like trophies. He wants us light and free, but that means listening when He says, “Go this way; walk in it” (Isaiah 48:17).
God speaks to us in many ways, and one of the clearest is through His Word, the Bible. Regularly spending time in His Word (the Bible) trains your mind, shaping how you think and see the world. This is what Romans 12:1-2 calls “renewing the mind,” as our thoughts increasingly align with God’s.
Take time today to seek God through His Word. It’s not about perfect reading or perfect understanding, but about letting Him meet you where you are. He isn’t hiding.
“And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13
