1 Peter 5:6 – So
humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will
lift you up in honor.
Jiu-jitsu
is a martial art that uses grappling to defeat an opponent. Unlike other martial arts like karate and kung
fu that teach kicking and punching, jiu-jitsu teaches students to wrestle an
opponent to the ground and choke them or twist their joints until they
submit. When a student establishes a
proper choke or joint lock, their opponent submits by tapping them so they will
release the hold and not injure the opponent.
The “tap” is the most important move in jiu-jitsu. It allows students to spar at full power
without getting hurt and clearly defines when a person submits and the match is
over.
It doesn’t take long for
jiu-jitsu students to let go of their ego.
You can’t hang on to your pride for very long when you are getting
“tapped out” on a regular basis by people who are smaller and weaker than
you. Even the best jiu-jitsu artists tap
out thousands of times in the course of their training. Tapping out is a great way to learn. When you tap, you go back and figure out what
you did wrong and try again.
What is
true for jiu-jitsu is true for life. No
one likes to lose. No one likes to admit
their mistakes. It damages your pride
and humbles you, but that’s a good thing.
Losing and admitting our faults are the best ways to learn. The Disciples messed up again and again in
the New Testament and, by God’s grace, it was OK. They learned from their mistakes and went on
to do better. Through these flawed,
mistake-prone people, Jesus established his Church and changed the world
forever.
Since Christians
are the Disciples’ spiritual descendants, we should give ourselves and others
the freedom to make mistakes, fail, and try again. We have to change our attitudes so that losing
isn’t seen as the end. It’s just a
chance to learn and improve.
Selfish-pride and ego should have no place among God’s people. Lighten up on yourself and others too. Seek to be and do your best, but understand
that the road to your best will most likely lead through many failures along
the way. If you don’t make a few
mistakes, you are playing it too safe.
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right
time he will lift you up in honor. Of
course, I’m no expert and certainly don’t claim to know everything, but that’s
the Truth as far as I can tell…
God
loves you and so do I,
