How Can I Stay Humble in My Sport When Everyone Compliments Me?

Hey, guys. So, we got a question that came in. It says, “How can I stay humble in my sport when everyone compliments me? And how can I prevent getting cocky?” 

Answer: 

I think this is a really good question to consider, especially as believers participating in sports and competitions. I love sports. I love to play softball these days. Earlier in my life, I played high school and college baseball. And so, I really have a competitive nature, wanting to succeed and do well in those types of things. But I think the Lord also wants to teach us some things as we walk through this.

Firstly, just walk in thanksgiving. The breath in our lungs and the abilities, even athletic abilities, that God might give us are a gift from Him. And, we should start in that place of just thankfulness that the Lord would give us the ability to live, and to play, and to run, and whatever it would be that you’re into. 

And I think that’s the best place to start, in a place of humility. Even if you’re succeeding in a good thing, it’s okay to succeed, it’s okay to win, it’s okay to compete and do well. But we want to remain in that place of it’s the Lord’s Gift in us that we have that ability to do what we’re doing.

And so, the question here, it’s like, people are giving you compliments. How can you prevent getting cocky? How do you stay humble? And humbleness is key in our Christian walk.

And so, here are a couple of verses I want to share with you guys to consider. The first one would be in Colossians Chapter 3:12 NLT. It says: 

“God chose you to be holy people, and you must clothe yourselves in tender-hearted mercy and kindness, in humility, gentleness, and patience.” 

And so, just these attributes of what it looks like to be a believer, to be a chosen child of God, living for God in this world. Some of the attributes here highlight humility, gentleness, and kindness. And so, these are really kind of opposite to being cocky, and full of yourself, and full of pride.

James Chapter 4:6 NIV says: 

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 

And so, you want to remember that. We want to remember that God has called us to walk in humility, to be humble.

I think that’s really a good place to start, as we start with Thanksgiving and remind ourselves of what the character of a believer is without getting too full of ourselves as we compete, play sports, win, whatever it might be. 

I think of Jesus’s character also. And I want you to just really consider the character of who Jesus is. As believers, we’re called to follow Jesus, imitate Him, and live for Him. And one of the ways we do that is by studying and observing His life and the way He lived here on earth. And so, think about Him. And, think about the very Son of God, the one with all the strength and power and wisdom and knowledge and ability in the world, who came and lived a sinless life here on earth. 

And yet, He clothed himself in humility and meekness. And it’s just this picture of meekness and humility, not a place of weakness. In fact, it’s a place of strength. That He would restrain himself from puffing himself up, and so, think about that. Even just as Jesus went to the cross, He had the full ability to conquer everyone around Him and just proclaim His greatness and His victory over sin and death in that moment. 

But instead, He chose the meek and humble way to go all the way to the cross to pay that death. And then, He rose later from the grave.

Think about this as we apply it to the question: Just about your walk with the Lord. Maybe it’s not even sports. But maybe it’s your academics, or music, or just something that you succeed in. Do it, do it well. 

Colossians 3:23-24 tells us: 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

So, you want to put your full effort into it. You don’t want to feel guilty for being good at something. Go for it and be good at it. But then, remembering that it’s like, hey, we want to just walk in that place of humility.

And I love this verse in Colossians 3:12-14 NLT. I’ll read it again, and I want you to apply this to your life. It says:  

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

And so, He uses this idea: to clothe yourself, to put on, to cover yourself with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. As you go forward, in whatever you’re doing, do it as unto the Lord, but clothe yourself in this humility.

And so, the final piece to this question is really just like people giving you compliments. How do you not get cocky in that? And this is how I would do it. I would direct those compliments back to the Lord. 

If someone comes up to you and compliments you on something that you’ve achieved or something that you’ve done, you can take that and be grateful for that. But then, you direct it back to the Lord. “Hey, the Lord gave me this gift.” Like, the Lord has given me this ability, and I use it in that.

The final thing about how to not be cocky is to remember there are seasons of everything. I succeeded in baseball, just looking at my own life. I succeeded pretty well in baseball through high school and college. And it was a season, and it was good. And I came to a realization that there were people who were still better than me. There were people who succeeded much better than I did and continued on with those things. 

I’m thankful the Lord gave me a season of success in sports, but also things come and go. Our health comes and goes, and our talents come and go. And so, that keeps us humble, and that keeps us not to be in a cocky place. Because we don’t even know what tomorrow might bring, so just keep those things in mind. Colossians 3:12 and James 4:6. 

I hope that helps with this question.

source https://calvaryyouth.org/biblical-answers/how-can-i-stay-humble-in-my-sport-when-everyone-compliments-me/