Championship Identity
Scottie Scheffler is the “champion golfer of the year” after winning the Open Championship by four strokes in Northern Ireland this week. It is Scheffler’s fourth career major championship and his second major of the year. Scheffler is the top-ranked player in the world and made news earlier in the week by speaking candidly about the reality that success in golf is “not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.”
Analysis and eternal perspective: Winning golf tournaments is the reason you know Scottie Scheffler’s name. But as he so clearly articulated earlier this week, winning golf tournaments has nothing to do with his true name and calling, nor yours. Scheffler has often professed a faith in Jesus and a belief that win or lose, his “identity is secure.”
What a concept this is! The God of the universe not only created you but also named you and claimed you as His own (Is. 43:1)! You have a unique set of skills and giftings that are intended to bring glory to God! The pressure is off, because your purpose is not tied up in your performance but rather fully encapsulated within the identity of the almighty God!
These realities should produce a quiet and holy confidence in you. They should make you as bold as a lion (Pr. 28:1) and instill within you a strength of meekness rather than brashness (Matt. 5:5).
The odds are high you will never be the “champion golfer of the year.” But this year’s champion golfer knows the Truth: Your identity and your fulfillment is found only and wholly in the One who made you and named you!
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.