What makes a 'champion?'

Alright...I was driving to work this morning, doing what I always do and started thinking...which is always trouble. Nobody can know what I do in my car on the way to work every morning unless I tell them. I could do whatever I want, and nobody would ever know. Of course I'm sure you can guess what I was doing...Yea...I was singing at the top of my lungs, looking in the rear view mirror at myself, my eyebrows dancing around, my right arm pointing out the windshield to the thousands of people I was singing to. Yea...I'm THAT guy. A nice little escape. Don't act like you haven't done it before....I just may do it a little more often than most people...I love it. And I also have realized that I may be the worst singer in the history of the world.

So...when we were kids, we always were told "God is always watching," right? I started thinking about soccer, and training, and what it took to get ready for a season. One team I was on had the motto:

"Champions are made when nobody is watching."

What did this mean? It wasn't what you did while you were with the team practicing that made you a better player - it was how hard you were pushing yourself on the last half mile of that 5 mile run...it was how many push-ups you did at home every night before you went to bed. THAT is what drives an athlete...what he does when he is alone. It's not hard to push yourself when a coach is screaming up your tail(and coaches LOVED to scream at me) - but it is harder when you are saying to yourself "I could just stop now...nobody would know." And only you and God know if you stop. But you don't get any better by stopping. You prepare for when you are around others. You are preparing for the game, you are preparing for the season. And when I was younger...preparing for that dream of holding the World Cup(I may never win it...but...I'll do the next best thing, and go watch it this summer!)

Our faith is the same way: "champions are made when nobody is watching." It's not hard to go to church, to pray at church, to believe in God at Church. But when you are at home, and by yourself...that's where our faith is tested. How do we handle those situations? And when we give - we should almost always give when nobody is watching - give anonymously, give generously. This puts us in God's favor. You are preparing for the game. You are preparing for the tests. You are preparing for temptation, and for trials. Read this passage - Matthew 6:1-4:

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "

"Champions are made when nobody is watching"

You may not when the World Cup, Like I did when I was 8, but you can still win the ultimate prize...