ROLIM Remains Positive and Enthusiastic Despite Lost

Saturday, March 17, ROLIM had their third game against Servants of Christ Ministries. It was another test in their season that had to be overcome. Unfortunately, ROLIM lost with the score of 36-53. On the bright side, ROLIM learned a lot from this game.

Prior to every game, coaches appoint two players to be the co-captains to share a word of encouragement, devotion, and prayer.  The co-captains for this game were John Paul Guiao and William Schaper. John Paul shared a very motivating devotion derived from the book of Hebrews and First Timothy. In Hebrews 12:11-13 it says; “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” He also took another verse from 1 Timothy 4:8 it says; “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” John Paul shared about discipline, regarding the overcoming of adversity in life as well as the application in the game setting. When we discipline ourselves, we set ourselves up for victory as John Paul said.

In this game ROLIM were lacking players due to absence, but that did not stop them from playing their best. It just meant that everyone had to carry a little bit more of the workload and work harder to pick up the slack. On the other hand, SCM had a handful of players on their roster. The game began on a slow start; both teams were held 5-5 for a good portion of the first half. Until, SCM found their momentum and started to build on their lead.

During the course of this game ROLIM learned about self-control and goodness. A few of the ROLIM players were provoked by the other team to retaliate because the other team was not playing fair. A few elbows were thrown to ROLIM players but the referees did not see those causing ROLIM players to get frustrated and provoked. The overwhelming arousal of emotions proved to be the works of the enemy, and by enemy I mean the devil. The devil tempted players to give in to their emotions and act on it by means that negates Christian ways. When the coaches and referees found that the game was getting tense they called a time out. It was a chance for the players to recollect and control themselves. “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools,” Ecclesiastes 7:9 is a good verse for this specific scenario.

Another fruit of the Holy Spirit we can practice from this is goodness. Retaliation and fighting back is not a way to seek justice. It says in Romans 12:21; “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Show them goodness even if they are doing wrong against you. They will see that the Holy Spirit dwells in you through your actions. An analogy could be best interpreted in Tagalog, “Kapag may bumato ng bato sa iyo, batuhin mo naman sila ng tinapay”. In short, if someone does evil to you, do not retaliate but instead offer good things to them. 

ROLIM played a good game, but they still have a lot to learn. Taking each loss as a stepping-stone to pursue despite unfortunate events. They will learn from the mistakes and apply it for the future.