Character

   

Growing up I often heard it said that sports builds character.  A few years ago I came to realize that was not true. 
         The more I was around organized and competitive sports the more I came to believe that sports does not build character, rather, sports reveal character.

Character is built in our homes, our families, our churches, our day-to-day interaction with our children.  If sports truly built character, then it would seem to make sense that the more success one had at sports the more quality character a person would have.

Yet I look at the history of a Ray Lewis, the devastation of the acts of Oscar Pistorius, or the sideline rantings of brothers coaching opposing teams in a Super Bowl, and I just think, that is not what I want my children to be.

I think about the arrests of SEC athletes, or the athletic scandals of ACC athletes or the complete moral failures of Big Ten programs, and I realize that sport is not something that builds character.

Does this mean that I believe that sports destroy character?  Not at all.  I think it can be a great proving ground for character and integrity.  The two athletes pictured above with my daughter are great examples of strong character.  They are Godly women, who achieved academic and athletic success, and led their school to a national championship.

Their characters were forged in the fires of their families.  Their honesty, integrity, determination, drive, and confidence started with Godly parents who loved, taught and cherished them. Athletic competition enabled them to display and refine qualities that were instilled in them by their parents.

I write these words to remind all of us as parents that we are responsible more than anyone for shaping who are children will become.  We are responsible for them mind, body and soul.

If we try to pass off that responsibility to coaches, or to schools, or to any other person, we are cheating ourselves and our children of a valuable life experience.

We are responsible for praying for our children.  We are responsible for their understanding of what to do with their God given abilities.  We are responsible for the nourishment of their bodies, of their mind, and of their spirits.

Our window of responsibility is a short one.  One day they will leave us and their character will be put to test in the fires of the real world.  Their success or failure, not as athletes, but as people, is intricately tied to what we do with them and for them now.

           As a parent I understand how hard that path is.  I pray that God will give us all the patience and wisdom and strength that we need, so that our children may become all that they are intended to be.