2301) Every once-in-a-while, I’ll have some sort of review game with my young scholars. I am amazed from class to class at the amount of competition I see.

There are some classes, the competition is so high; it takes the fun out of the game and I’ve closed the game down.

Why? Because when there is a powerful drive to win, at any cost, there is also an equal amount of defeat for the losers.

Playing games like this doesn’t really produce winners; it only produces losers.

Proverbs 14:30 tells us a tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. The Hebrew word for envy is qin’ah, which can be translated as rivalry.

Is competition bad? I don’t think so, but if our goal is only to win, at any cost, there’s always the possibility that others will automatically become losers.  In our relationships, wouldn’t it be better if we strove to build others up rather than building ourselves up and letting others feel like losers?