Randy Wray’s Blog

Today’s post will be a lengthy discussion as to who I am picking to win the Superbowl. If you could care less about sports I’m sure someone else from our blogger consortium will have something spiritual to say that will touch your heart.

Those of you who know me will not be surprised to hear me say I am a competitive person. I’m trying, without success, to dig up some repressed memory that would explain my competitive nature. I say nature because as long as I can remember, I’ve been a competitive person.

This competitive nature has worked out well in many situations but has also not worked out so well in others. Those of you who know me, no examples please. I even have a short list (a very short list) of people who it’s ok if they beat me at something.

I’ve worked hard over the years to suppress that competitive side of me that is not healthy. I feel it bubbling up every now and then when I’m watching my kids play sports or am rooting for a particular team, championship speller or competitive eater. Ok, the speller and the eater was a reach but it allowed me to end the previous sentence with such flourish.

It would be tempting to justify the bad side of my competitiveness with Bible verses. I mean after all, the Bible does say:

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NCV) You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win!

So you could argue, from a Biblical standpoint that if you are going to compete you should compete to win. That is actually the healthy side of competition. The unhealthy side of competition pertains to winning at all cost – even breaking the rules to win. The Bible also has something to say about being a good sport and playing by the rules.

2 Timothy 2:5 (NCV) Also an athlete who takes part in a contest must obey all the rules in order to win.

Certainly athletes have won contests by breaking and bending rules but there is a greater prize in knowing you were a good sport.

I am also looking forward to the Superbowl because whichever team wins will be ok with me. It’s actually going to be fun to watch the game simply for the enjoyment of watching the game.

And now my pick . . . Pittsburgh? Seattle? Who will win the big game? Whichever team scores the most points will win. See that’s the kind of honest and frank dialogue you won’t here from all the “sports pundits” the so called “experts” on television. So remember, you heard it here first. The team who scores the most points will win and it will be ok - with me anyway!