Pretty cool commercial, huh? It used to give me the chills when I was a kid (actually, it still does). As a kid, I was obsessed with Michael Jordan. He could do things with a basketball that I could never dream of duplicating; he never ceased to amaze. [Note: I am still enthralled by my old videos of Michael Jordan, basketball player. I am considerably less enthralled by Michael Jordan, husband - but the point of all of this is not Michael Jordan. It is, as always, finding the truth wherever we can and yielding to it whatever the cost. Can we find truth in a Nike commercial? Sure ... if we want to.] After watching the commercial, we are prompted to ask ourselves the ever-important question, "So what?" Each of you will answer that question for himself, but here's my version.
The last line Jordan speaks in the commercial seems to contradict fundamental logic. He states: "I've failed over, and over, and over again in my life - and that is why I succeed." Huh? Failing repeatedly doesn't make you a success; it makes you a FAILURE, right? Well, not so fast. Michael Jordan the basketball player was anything but a failure. I could list his exceedingly numerous accolades, but I don't think that's necessary. Suffice it to say that he is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. So wait, failing repeatedly did make him a success? Again, not so fast. We don't remember him because of his failures, but in spite of them. The lesson for us: Persistence Pays. If Jordan had begun to think of himself as a failure the first time he missed a game-winner, or when he was cut from his high school team, etc., that's exactly what he would have been. But he didn't see himself that way. He knew he was a winner; as such, he kept working, kept practicing, kept striving for excellence, even when he had become the best at what he did.
As we strive to improve our relationships, there will inevitably be times when we fail. We might even metaphorically trip on our own feet as we go up for a breakaway layup. It's easy to do, especially when we are trying to do things we have never done before. However, we must remember the axiom: Persistence Pays. We may have a desire to improve our relationships, we may even have great plans for doing so - and those great plans just might blow up in our faces. I promise you, though, that it is true: Persistence Pays. Even if things don't go the way we plan on the first try, or the second, or the fifth, we must not give up. If we sincerely strive to improve our relationships, I know without a doubt that our best efforts will be magnified. A loving Father will help us to make our "best" better, and in time, change will come. Our plans will get better, our implementation of those plans will get better, our relationships and our lives will get better, if we will but apply this truth: Persistence Pays.
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