Giving Your Best Effort

(This is another post pulling from my book, Married to Jesus. Today’s post is the Preface of the book…enjoy!)

I used to dream of going to the Olympics. Growing up, my wall was plastered with ribbons, medals and pictures of my accomplishments as a young gymnast at Metroplex Gymnastics in Dallas, Texas. Early on in my gymnastics career, I knew this was what I was meant to do. I started in the fifth grade, and by the time I was in seventh grade, I had given up every other sport in order to focus on gymnastics. 

I can’t say for sure when it was, but sometime in junior high, I made a list of three goals that I was destined to reach:

1. Qualify for nationals.
2. Get a scholarship to college.
3. Go to the Olympics.

A few years after I made this list, I qualified and competed at the Junior National gymnastics competition in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin. A couple years later, I won a scholarship to compete on the team at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. (At the time, I had no clue what the phrase “four dead in Ohio” meant!) If you know much about men’s gymnastics, and even if you don’t, you probably would know that Kent State was not the mecca for breeding Olympians. It was a decent team, and I was a decent gymnast.

Needless to say, I never made it to the Olympics. The closest I came to the Olympics was through a few guys I knew of that I competed against at Ohio State. Notice I said “knew of” - I didn’t even know them, just knew of them. And, my coach back at Metroplex ended up coaching several Olympians.

I didn’t accomplish 100 percent of my goals. Two out of three ain’t bad, right? Or does that mean I’m a failure because I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do? I don’t believe so. I tried my very best, and in many regards, I was very successful in my efforts. That’s what God wants, our very best effort.

We are called to be imitators of Christ, in life and in marriage. It is important, though, to realize that this book attempts to address the ideal marriage - one that emulates the relationship of Christ and the church. Every marriage on Earth falls short of that ideal, even good Christian marriages. But, God makes one promise: that Christ is in us and provides us with the hope of glory. Whatever your failures or mistakes, you can begin today to live out the ideal marriage by depending on the power of the Holy Spirit within you.

As we gain a deeper understanding of God’s ideal for marriage, many will see the stark contrast with our own marriages. The world will try to use that contrast to make you think, “I’m a failure as a husband or wife. My marriage can never reflect that ideal.” But, as God told Joshua not to be discouraged as he prepared to cross the Jordan to enter the Promised Land, God also encourages us in that “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I worked very hard to succeed in gymnastics, and although I didn’t reach the Olympics, my efforts were rewarded - I met the love of my life at Kent State! Some may say hitting two out of three of my goals isn’t bad. I say the third goal just changed during the process.So, let’s focus on the ideal, and then by God’s power, strive to attain it.  

Are you giving your best effort in your marriage?