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Keeping Our Attitude In Check And Our Mouth Shut
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Keeping Our Attitude In Check And Our Mouth Shut
August 18, 2012
By Pastor Tim Richards
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London are now history. The United States has many new heroes, especially 16 year old Gabby Douglas, the petite gymnast who captured our hearts with her phenomenal skills and contagious smile.
We’ve also become fans of athletes from other countries. Even those who didn’t watch the Olympics have probably heard of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who won two more gold medals in London. The name “Bolt” conjures up images of speed and he’s one athlete who more than lives up to his name. Many believe he’s the fastest man in history as the only person to ever hold world records in both the 100 and 200 meters and to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting.
His incredible speed has earned him the nickname “Lightening Bolt.” How-ever, he lives up to his name in another way as well. His ego appears nearly as amazing as his speed. On Thursday during the games he referred to himself as a “living legend” more than twenty times. He put himself in the same category as sports greats Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordon. Although that level of self con-gratulation isn’t attractive, most shrugged it off because he truly is an extraordi-nary athlete.
Then, Bolt stepped over the line by not merely comparing himself with other great athletes but by trashing America’s greatest track and field star, Carl Lewis, a man who has won nine gold medals. He said, “Carl Lewis, I have no respect for him… nobody remembers who he is…”
Unfortunately Bolt needs to learn a country proverb I first heard as a boy, “A shut mouth gathers no foot.” Before the sprinter’s gaff many believed he might become one of the world’s best paid product representatives. After demonstrating he’s capable of shoving his entire foot in his mouth, no one is certain.
The Bible has quite a lot to say about pride and humility. To summarize it basically says pride will get you into trouble and humility will keep you out of it.
Jesus said it even more dramatically when The Message paraphrased him in this way in Luke 14:11b, “…If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
Jesus’ point is simply that to become all we can be we need to realize we’re not already all we should be. That’s a lesson Usain Bolt and everyone else would do well to learn. Unfortunately far too many don’t realize the importance of keeping our attitude in check and our mouth shut until we’ve already fallen flat on our face.
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