23 November | Youth
«Blessed is the man who endures temptation.» James 1:12
Michael Jordan is considered one of the greatest basketball players in history. He entered the NBA in 1984 playing for the Chicago Bulls and was voted the competition's Most Valuable Player five times. Recognized for his incredible ability to score, in addition to his jumping ability, Jordan was included thirteen times in the NBA All-Star Game, a selection of the best players in the tournament. He was the league's top scorer in ten seasons. His highest score in a single game was sixty-nine points against the Cleveland Cavaliers in March 1990.
However, to be a great NBA champion, Jordan needed to learn from defeats. The beginning of his career was completely inauspicious: he was cut from his high school’s basketball team and was rejected in his first attempts to make the university team. But Jordan did not give up and became a symbol of overcoming. In an interview, he revealed the secret to his success: “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times I have been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” One of his teammates, B.J. Armstrong, said: “He would never tell you he lost; he either won, or he learned.”
Many people fail in life because they give up trying. They fail to see their own mistakes as an opportunity for growth. They look more at incapacities than at virtues. Are you one of those who lives only thinking about your failures?
God wants you to be successful in all areas of life, especially the spiritual. It is possible that in some of them you “missed the target,” wasting “throws and attempts.” God wants to help you learn from your mistakes and grow in your experience. The “championship” is not over yet.
With patience, training and perseverance, you will certainly get there. Maybe you will never be the best student in your class, the most talented in your church, the highest scorer on your team, or the most famous on the web. But, if you make an effort to learn from your mistakes, you have everything it takes to be the most accomplished person in the world.