1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives
out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is
not made perfect in love.
ATI kids rock! What an awesome group of kids! They are keepers!
The one common denominator I saw at Macon that stood in the way of our kids was FEAR. It showed up in various forms... fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the opponent, fear of the officials, fear of making a bad line call, fear of what a coach might say, fear of what a parent might say, fear of many people and things...
Fear has many faces. Racket heads slow down and serves go long. Feet won't move. Rackets are banged, kicked, thrown, and destroyed. Opponents are mocked and made fun of. Drop shots are experimented with for no reason. Fear is the common factor.
There is one proven, long-term antidote for fear... PERFECT LOVE.
A parent recently brought a student for help with playing tiebreakers. I asked the student what the main issue was in winning tiebreakers. He said that he was afraid. I asked him what or who he was afraid of. He said it was his father who yelled at him after he lost. When his father came back to pick him up after the lesson I had the child share with the dad what he had shared with me. The father literally gasped in surprise. It then also came out that the child was afraid of a former coach who used to yell when the student performed poorly.
Perfect love is unconditional. It is completely unrelated to performance. Sometimes our best intentions say that more pressure will bring better results. The Truth is, more unconditional love will bring greater joy, freedom, and success with it. There is a lie out there that says that withholding love is an effective motivation. It actually does just the opposite. Love and performance have to be completely separated. God does not love us because of how we perform. He loves us because we are His sons and daughters.
Psalm 27:1
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
