For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)
The No. 1 amateur in the world knows what it’s like to stand on the first tee at Augusta National in the final group and feel like she has no control over her body.
The world starts to move at warp speed. For many players, they start to shake and lose all feeling in their hands.
It’s a terrifying place to be, and when Kiara Romero returned to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this spring, she had a plan.
Talk to people. Talk to her older sister, Kaleiya, who was on the bag. Talk to fans.
But, most importantly, she had a mindset shift. At the University of Oregon, Kiara started attending a weekly Fellowship of Christian Athletes Bible study.
“With junior golf, I would take it really hard if I had a bad round,” said Romero. “But now it’s not the end of the world. It really isn’t. At the end of the day, God has a plan for you, and it’s not going to change just because you shot a 75. If you put things into perspective that way, it kind of changes a lot.”
Kiara, a self-taught player with one of the best swings in golf, recently finished sixth at the U.S. Women’s Open and is on the cusp of earning an LPGA card.
“I always say, if I can introduce a couple of people to Jesus,” she said, “that would be more important than winning a golf tournament.”
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul explains that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. There’s tremendous freedom in what Romero describes. We must look at how we view ourselves and others much differently as believers in Christ.
“The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (v. 17, NLT)
While a bad round or an embarrassing moment inside the ropes hurts, it doesn’t define us. Nor does it change God’s purpose for our lives.
“We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:20–21)
PRAYER: Father God, we thank you for changing our perspective on how we see ourselves and the world. May we have the privilege today of pointing someone to you.