If you are a golfer considering Christ, please read on . . .

There has never been a time in history when people have not sought out God. The human race needs something in this world that is different, something that is spiritual and gives meaning to the things that seem to go unexplained. Many ache to have a relationship with a forgiving God whom they can worship.

Many human beings starve their soul just as you might starve your body of nourishment. Failure to eat results in decay of the body until it is too weak to function. Likewise, failure to nourish our soul results in spiritual decay and eternal emptiness. Most of us starved our soul at one time or another; but we found a way to nourish and strengthen it through God.

Most human being respond to their inner spirit and will eventually choose a relationship with a heavenly being. If you have a yearning to bring more peace and self respect into your life here are some things for a golfer to think about. The techniques we use to play golf well are the same one’s we use to Play Life Well.

THE STANCE

There are many stances that you can take in golf; open, closed, wide or narrow. The stance is part of the ‘set-up’ that includes posture, alignment and ball position. When all of these are in balance, the golfer is ready to swing. In life we need to take a stance for that in which be believe. We need to have balance, a firm foundation and have our actions aligned with our beliefs; Christ demands that of us. If our ‘stance in life’ is repeated like our stance in golf, we are better prepared to continue and give credit to the Lord as our teacher.

THE GRIP

You have several choices in how you hold the golf club; the interlocking grip, 10- finger grip, Vardon grip and a few variations that you see with most beginners. In this materialistic world many things have a grip on us; where we live, what we drive, what we have and others. We need to release the grip these things have on us; who we are has nothing to do with what we have or what people think of us. Once God grips us, he will never let go; who we are will be determined by his love for us, and his grip pressure will be perfect.

EYE ON THE BALL

In golf, too much attention is given to keeping your eye on the ball and ‘hitting it’. The best shots result from focusing on where you want the ball to go; visualizing the shot and the results. Your relationship with Jesus needs nothing more than to wake up each morning and say ‘OK Jesus, lets have a great day together’. Like in golf, you will look for tips from friends, read Golf Digest, watch the pros on TV and learn something from each of them. You will evaluate your behavior and find that you are ‘swinging’ in life more freely. Don’t get too analytical about it; just make a good swing at life every day with God as your caddy.

THE SWING

We learn to swing the club from the inside out. We coil and uncoil the body and it creates centrifugal force at the club head; the speed of the club head, centered at impact, sends the ball long and straight. We live life from the inside out as well. We are driven by what we hold dear and believe in strongly not by what looks to be fun or rewarding ‘out there’. And we need to finish or ‘follow through’ our golf swing. We need to follow through on our intentions as well. Finish the day at the top just as a good golf swing finishes at the top- in balance.

PLAY BY THE RULES

The rules of golf are many and it seems written by the same person who wrote the St. James version of the bible- hard to understand. But there are clear translations of the rules of golf and we are expected to play by them without supervision. The Ten Commandments and The Sermon on the Mount are the rules of life, and we are expected to live by them without an ‘official’ present. If character is defined by what we do when no one is looking, than character on the golf course will translate to character in life. We play by life’s rules because it is the right thing to do and God expects it of us.

PRE-SHOT ROUTINE

All good players repeat the same sequence of action and movement before hitting a shot; and if they are distracted, they go back to the beginning and take each step in their pre-shot routine in sequence. The pre-shot routine is considered the beginning of the shot. We need a pre shot routine each day, and it will be different for each of us. But like a golfer looks at his lie, the wind, distance, location of the hazards and other variables before he selects a club, we need a pre-shot routine for each day when we read a bit of the bible, have some private time to sort through our priorities and how we stand in our most important relationships. We consider the hazards we will face during the day and make a ‘shot selection’ to avoid them. Our day begins with our pre-shot routine – every day.

SEEK IMPROVEMENT

Unfortunately less than 50% of all golfers have ever had a lesson. They play with a technique they learned from a friend, parent or by watching someone else hit it. And their measure of success is almost exclusively distance. They hack around the course, hit one drive 240 – say it was 320 and go home to brag about it. We need help in playing life as well and we learn how to play with the help of a pro – maybe a pastor at a church, or a friend who really plays life well and can help us. Reading the bible has a great deal of value, but you don’t need to start at the beginning and read it straight through. Ask your ‘pro’ how to begin to study your directions for life, and focus on the final score.

GETTING IN “THE ZONE”

What a great feeling it is to hit it pure, once or all day. You see the shot, feel it and the rest is almost automatic. Both sides of the brain are working in harmony and you just do it. Get in the ZONE with the Lord; you will hit life pure much more frequently, almost automatically.

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