“for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” James 1:20
A few months ago, I joined millions in watching the induction of one of my childhood heroes into the National Basketball Hall of Fame. Ever since I was a little boy I loved watching Michael Jordan play the game. His rare mix of athletic ability and competitive drive made him the best player of his time, maybe the best player of all time.
But as I watched him accept the invitation into the hall of fame, I noticed something about Michael I had never seen before. It was one the greatest moments of his career, but as he accepted the invitation into the hall of fame, he seemed angry. Throughout his speech, he replayed different moments of his career and repeatedly chose to “call out” and make reference to different people in the audience that he had dominated on the court. At one time in his speech, he even addressed an old high school teammate by pointing out that he surpassed him.
In many ways that “competitive spirit “is what made Michael Jordan the best basketball player in the world. I have often read of how Michael hated to lose. The way he loathed losing reportedly went beyond the game he loved even into arenas of ping-pong and cards.
As I continued to watch and listen, it seemed that the competitive spirit that I so greatly admired was indeed a form of anger. It was that anger that kept him alone.
As I reflected on all of this, I was reminded of how many times I have used anger to fuel me. Like my childhood Idol, there have been many times when I have used anger as the fuel for my competitive juices to give me the energy to accomplish a certain task in life.
As I watched Michael stand alone to accept his prestigious award, I was reminded of this:
“If you allow anger be your motivation, you may indeed win, but in the end you may alienate all others and celebrate your victory alone.”
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