The score that counts

Last Saturday, I played in a doubles tennis tournament with a good friend of mine, and learned yet another lesson on what score matters the most when the match is finished!

The competition was tough and we had to work hard for every point.

The first match ended in victory for us, but our second match was barely lost in a 10-8 match tie-breaker. Losing the match was not a big deal. That has happened before! But some poor calls during the match wanted to put a dark cloud over the experience.

One of our opponents made a number of bad calls, at least from our point of view. We let each one slide without comment, but after a while, the cumulative effect of his seeing the ball out when it appeared clearly in, was weighing on us mentally. And for anyone who plays tennis, you learn that any negativity in thought adversely affects your performance quickly.

My partner was more affected by the calls than I was, but after we barely lost the match, the temptation came to place blame. But I didn’t want to go there.

As I drove home, I pondered, “What is most important? Who won by points, or who won by love?”

Any arguing about the calls during the match would have been fruitless. It would have caused strife, conflict and resentment on the court, which no one wanted. Playing tennis is for fun, and should stay that way. So, you learn to let the bad calls go. Everyone makes them once in a while. But this guy seemed to make several.

I wanted to shake the feeling of being treated unjustly.

I looked to Jesus for guidance.

What would Jesus do?

Forgive. That was clear.

Forgive 70 times 7, he taught. And I did during the game. I instantly let the bad calls go and moved to the next point without resentment. It was after the match, when we lost, that I fussed a bit! But I didn’t want even a tinge of resentment to linger in thought.

So, I asked again, “What was most important? The final score, or the attitude you walked off the court with?”

The answer was clear. The attitude I walked off the court with was infinitely more important than the final score. The score would be forgotten in a few days, but my attitude would stay with me for years. If I could walk off the court with complete and total forgiveness, without a cell of resentment in my thought, and genuine love for my opponents, that would be a victory that would bless me in all my relationships with others, in my practice, at home, everywhere I went and in everything I did. To love in the face of injustice would be a far greater triumph than the acquisition of a little plaque that collected dust on my bookshelf.

I chose to love! It was not hard. I do it all the time. But it feels good to love and never resent! Resentment is poison that kills. Love is balm that heals.

So, the tournament was a grand success, as usual. I will never be a Roger Federer, or even close! But that does not matter. It’s the spiritual lessons I learn and gain that count and make the effort worthwhile.

If I end a match a better person for the experience and feeling closer to God, I consider it a success whether the score was in my favor or not. And that’s the way it should be. It’s all God cares about!

The "score" that counts is the spiritual attitude you live.