{"id":520,"date":"2012-08-29T19:00:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-29T23:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=520"},"modified":"2012-08-27T10:37:40","modified_gmt":"2012-08-27T14:37:40","slug":"the-games-people-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/08\/the-games-people-play.html","title":{"rendered":"The Games People Play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We were recently at the county fair and walked down the row of games.\u00a0 They\u00a0used \u00a0to cost a quarter and you could win a nice prize.\u00a0 On this day, I spent $10, broke 7 balloons and won a tiny little stuffed animal that was worth about $.50.\u00a0\u00a0 There were people all ar0und me dropping money on these games as if they were going to win a new car or a Hawaiian vacation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2011\/09\/IMG_0360.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-531\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/259\/2011\/09\/IMG_0360-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>People just like to play games; card games, scrabble, monopoly, carnival games, and all kinds of sports.\u00a0 Unfortunately, some like to play spiritual games also.\u00a0 These spiritual games benefit no one, but they do entertain the enemy.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s play &#8220;dress up&#8221;&#8221; and all go to church.\u00a0 Make sure we are on time and wear our Sunday best.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t forget to smile and say, &#8220;Praise the Lord&#8221; a few times.\u00a0 When we get back home its football and fighting, yelling at the kids, kicking the dog and criticizing the pastor&#8217;s sermon.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s play &#8220;I&#8217;ve Got Talent&#8230;..and you don&#8217;t!&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0 I know I sing better than Sara and I can teach better than Elder Rick.\u00a0\u00a0 I can bake better pies than Mabel and prophecy with the best of them.\u00a0\u00a0 But don&#8217;t ask me to help in the nursery or clean the bathrooms.\u00a0 That is for people less talented than I.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s play &#8220;Nobody Loves Me&#8221;.\u00a0 Did you ever hear that song that says, &#8220;Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I guess I&#8217;ll go eat worms&#8230;&#8230;&#8221;\u00a0 Do you pout and &#8216;eat worms&#8217; because no one asked you to write the Christmas play, or because Pastor Jones didn&#8217;t acknowledge you from the pulpit for your recent contribution to the building fund?<\/p>\n<p>These spiritual games are not only childish, but dangerous.\u00a0 We cannot reach our greatest potential if we are\u00a0focused on these things.\u00a0 This doesn&#8217;t bring God glory and can be hurtful to others.\u00a0 We can&#8217;t yield fully to our calling if we are using all our energy and resources to\u00a0build false dreams.\u00a0\u00a0 We each have a special place in God&#8217;s kingdom; and only we can fill that place.\u00a0 So let&#8217;s not waste valuable time playing spiritual games.<\/p>\n<p>Playing games can be lots of fun.\u00a0 It&#8217;s relaxing and builds relationships.\u00a0 It can teach good sportsmanship and honesty.\u00a0 So don&#8217;t stop playing games; just be mindful of what games we are playing and where we are playing them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We were recently at the county fair and walked down the row of games.\u00a0 They\u00a0used \u00a0to cost a quarter and you could win a nice prize.\u00a0 On this day, I spent $10, broke 7 balloons and won a tiny little stuffed animal that was worth about $.50.\u00a0\u00a0 There were people all ar0und me dropping money&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[10,39],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-inspiration","tag-being-judgemental","tag-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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