Gold medalist swimmer Maya Dirado, when discussing her Christian faith and its influence on her success said, “I don’t think God cares about my swimming very much.”
Later, in a interview with Christianity Today, she elaborated on this comment, “I think God cares about my soul and whether I’m bringing his love and mercy into the world. Can I be a loving, supportive teammate and can I bless others around me in the same way God has been so generous with me?”
I don’t pretend to know the extent to which God cares about competitive swimming, but I think Dirado makes a great point in emphasizing the inside out nature of the Growing Up process.
For Dirado, what God is doing with her spiritually is more important than what objective measures of success are out there. Then, based on how well she is letting God work on her soul and spirit, she now has the responsibility to impact others around her through love, compassion, and generosity. Attributes that have been demonstrated to her through Jesus Christ.
Dirado understands that man looks on the outside, God looks on the heart.
What a refreshing perspective she has and a much needed one in a world that wants to distort Christianity to just perceived legalisms, hypocrisies, moral stances, and political sound bites.
What if Dirado’s faith philosophy is more correct than we realize? To allow God to work on us, to bring Christ into our life to transform, change, and develop us so that we can be a blessing to others. Pretty profound, huh?
That sounds like a goal worth striving for.
Grow Up Blog 