By WALTER ALBRITTON
RELIGION —
October is an exciting month for major league baseball fans. Playoffs decide which teams will compete for the title of World Series Champions for 2022. As always in competitive sports, a key factor will be self-confidence. Winners play with confidence in their ability to win.
This was never demonstrated more clearly than in the life of baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser. Orel lacked confidence in himself until he put on a Dodgers uniform and began playing for Manager Tommy Lasorda. In his book, “Out of the Blue”, Hershiser recalls the day Lasorda called him aside and began shouting at him: “You don’t believe in yourself. You’re scared to pitch in the big leagues. You’ve got good stuff. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t have hired you. I’ve seen guys come and go, son, and you’ve got it. Be aggressive. Be a bulldog out there. That’s going to be your new name: Bulldog. With that name, you’ll scare the batters to death. Starting today, I want you to believe you are the best pitcher in baseball. Look at that hitter and say, ‘There is no way you can ever hit me.’”
Orel began to believe in himself and became a great pitcher, winning 204 games in his career, earning the Cy Young award in 1988 and being named the MVP of the World Series that year. He excelled not only because of his skills but because Lasorda inspired him to believe in himself.
What you believe about yourself makes a powerful difference. If you think you are a poor sinner struggling to be a Christian, you will live like a poor sinner harassed by Satan. You will experience defeat after defeat instead of victory after victory.
Victory in Christian living is linked to what you think about yourself. The first step in right thinking is to understand what God thinks of you. Look at what the Bible says about you once you receive Jesus as your Savior. You are a child of God. No longer dead in sin, you are in Christ and alive to God. You are a new person, redeemed by the grace of God. Your name is recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. You have peace with God because He has forgiven your sins. You free from your past. Now connected to Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit within you, ready to provide all you need to fufill your destiny as a servant of Jesus.
If that is not enough to light your fire, think on this: Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest of God, is constantly praying for you. Jesus knows everything about you and loves you in spite of your sins, and he is constantly interceding for you. What an encouragement. To know that no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus is always there for you. He hears your cries for help and presents them to the Father. Hallelujah. What a Savior. His prayers for you are not wasted. God is continually renewing your hope and replenishing your strength so you can finish the work he created you to do.
So be done with negative thinking. Come boldly to the throne of grace. Jesus understands your weaknesses. Receive the mercy he is ready to give you. Embrace the grace he offers you in every time of need. Live and love boldly for Jesus because of who you are.
