Just a Game

I used to love tennis

I loved it more than anything

I spent all of my time and energy on it

On and off the court

Tennis was my life

It consumed all of my time; it took up all of my energy

It became my identity

Without tennis, I didn’t know who I was

If I wasn’t playing, I was bored

If I wasn’t playing well, I was frustrated

My biggest fear was getting injured and having tennis taken away from me

I valued it over everything else

Over friends and other activities

And over what I thought was the most important thing in my life: my relationship with God

I didn’t mean for tennis to become my life. It just happened

Ten months ago, I decided to take a two-month break from competing to work on my tennis game. It was something I had to do to become a better player. It was a hard decision. I didn’t know how I’d ever survive that long without playing matches.

Well, two months eventually turned into three. Which then turned into four, five, and finally six months.

See, I still played a lot during that break. I still enjoyed the sport. But I discovered that there are things in life that are more important than tennis. I discovered that it was great not focusing on tennis all the time. Because instead of throwing everything I was into tennis, I threw everything I was into my relationship with God.

It was like waking up for the first time

It filled me up and gave me joy in a way that tennis never could

Eventually, I had to start competing again. But when I played those first tournaments, it was nothing like it had been before

For the first time, I looked around, and saw this sport for what it really was

A game

Just a game

A fun game

But also a game that was completely empty

I used to love tennis

I don’t anymore

I love Jesus

He’s my life now. Not tennis