Be the Champion! By Onyx Conklin

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Proverbs 4:25-26

I grew up in the champion era of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. I watched Michael Jordan fly unimaginably high through the air to take the basketball to the hoop. I watched the greats on that team under the extraordinary leadership of NBA coach Phil Jackson win after win. And I felt the greatest sense of patriotism when many of my basketball favorites made it the Olympics and came home gold medalists! Such triumph! 

But in my own life, I never felt like a champion. I didn’t have money, education, incredible talent, or a team. I was just a girl from a fractured background pointing to a future that held little promise. Have you felt like that?

I would love to say accepting Jesus into my life changed me overnight. But what I learned is that like most of the heroes in the Bible, that old way of thinking continued to permeate who I was. Then one day, as I was watching a sports movie, I started remembering how much that mentality of teamwork, excellence, and mental agility was built into my character. God said to my heart, “I called you a champion.” And that’s the identity I celebrate and live from. 

How do you cultivate a champion mentality? The greatest is how you think. The Bible tells us, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8.

The truth is we all have the potential to do good works in the world. God has set those works in our heart but it all starts on the training ground of your mind. Your thoughts about you determine your champion status. And everyone can be a champion!

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