Wikipedia – Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, came to a key crossroads in his life over the last 24 hours after losing the Super Bowl when he threw a goal line interception in the final minute.  He had led his team down the field and they were within 1 yard of scoring a touchdown.  I, like all the rest of the world, thought they would run the ball into the end zone with quite possibly the best running back in football.  But they didn’t!  For some reason, they called a passing play on 2nd down.  Wilson threw a pick and the game was over.  A bad call, maybe the worst in Super Bowl history.  A bad throw and bad decision by Wilson.  The whole game came down to that one play.  The winner was determined in that one moment of time.  One man will live as a hero, Malcolm Butler, who jumped the passing route and got the interception, while another player will live in the horrible regret of that one play.  

Yet, Russell Wilson is a man of faith and in this instance a man of good perspective.

Today he tweeted several statements.  He first tweeted, “I will love You, O LORD, my strength. (Psalms 18:1 NKJV)”

Later he tweeted:  “At 26 years old I won’t allow 1 play or 1 moment define my career, I will keep evolving. #Motivation”

When I heard about this tweet I thought how all of us need this same perspective to the mistakes we make.  Our mistakes may not be in front of the world in a Super Bowl, but they are often for all to see and bring us lots of shame.  Truthfully, they are bigger than a sporting mistake, because they involve sin, which hurts God and can cost our soul.  In many ways we can allow one poor decision we made years ago to be defining us now.

But we don’t have to be defined by the past, because of Christ.  This is the glory of the gospel.  This is the power of forgiveness.  We can move on to the future.  We are cleansed by the power of the blood of Christ.  Our value, worth, and identity are taken from Christ, not our sins!  We are a new creation.

Don’t let your past failures define you.  Learn from them and move on to new opportunities.

What are you letting define your life?  Turn to Jesus for a new birth and let Him define you!

See my post on this same topic entitled:  The Past Shapes You, But Should Not Define You.

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Article on his tweets.