Lessons From the Long Jump

A summer spent correcting my form for this track-and-field event taught me three important spiritual lessons about developing good spiritual form.

Last spring, I was invited to join a summer track program in order to fix my long jump form. I was excited to continue participating in track; but the thing was, I didn’t think there was a problem with my long jump form! In fact, I’d even won the event in a couple meets during the spring season. I thought I knew what good form was, and I thought I was using it!

It wasn’t until the coach showed me a video of perfect form and then compared it to a recording of my form that I not only saw what proper form really looked like, but also how my form didn’t measure up. It was a humbling experience! But my coach’s methods worked. I finally saw that something needed to change if I wanted to improve.

This experience brought to mind some much deeper, spiritual lessons. We humans like to do things our own way. Because of that, we often operate based on what feels right. The problem is, our own ways often conflict with God’s ways (Proverbs 14:12). Here are three spiritual lessons my experience as a long jumper taught me.

1. Beware of self-deception. Just like I thought my long jump form was correct, we often think that we know the right way to live our lives! We may think we’re doing it right, but we don’t always have the right spiritual form in our lives.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). What feels right to us often isn’t right at all. We cannot figure Christianity out for ourselves. When we “go it alone,” we are very susceptible to being deceived by Satan and our human nature.  

Thankfully, God has provided us with an example of the perfect spiritual form: the life of Jesus Christ. If we want to grow in godliness, we must be studying the life of Christ and the rest of God’s Word in order to know what proper form looks like and how to apply it.

It was finally clear to me that there was a problem with my jumping form. My speed and strength could only carry me so far. If I wanted to jump farther in the coming season, I had to begin learning proper form immediately.

As well, my current form was putting me at risk for injuries. Likewise, poor spiritual form—caused by sin—distances us from God and can ultimately lead to the worst injury we can face—death (Romans 6:23).

2. Learn the boundaries and make sacrifices. At first, the principles of form I was learning seemed like a restrictive boundary. It was much easier to jump my own way. But—however much I liked my old way of jumping—it was wrong!

God’s way gives us boundaries that are designed for our benefit. These boundaries, God’s law, help us learn God’s way to live. Though some consider God’s laws burdensome, they are designed for our benefit (1 John 5:3). As Christians, we must make sacrifices to live by God’s laws because we see the bigger picture of how this will benefit us in the long run!

3. Trust God to be our ultimate coach. God is the expert. He provides guidance and direction to help us change our lives to be in accordance with His ways. In order for change to come, I had to trust that my coach knew better than I did, and I had to follow his direction.

I wanted a quick fix, some little key point that would magically change the way that I jumped and add feet to my personal best. Instead, I was given drills. I got drills that had to be repeated daily. At times they were boring and tedious, and I wondered why I continued. Still, I trusted the coach and kept on practicing.

Similarly, we have to trust our ultimate Coach—God. He knows what is best for us, and He knows what we need to improve (Proverbs 3:5-6). There are no spiritual shortcuts to becoming like Him—He gives us His laws and Word, and we must practice it daily. Practice is the only way to perform well when tests come. This is true in track; but more important, it is true in our Christian lives.

Good spiritual form

As Christians, we must realize that we are nothing without God. He is our strength. God’s law and Christ’s life provide us with an example of proper spiritual form. It’s up to us to follow it or not. Developing good spiritual form now will set us on the path to growing in God’s character and reaching the Kingdom of God in the long run!

To learn more about God’s laws, which provide the basis for good spiritual form, read about “The Ten Commandments.”