I love the Olympics. It is safe to say I am probably addicted to them (mainly because I have stayed up past midnight the last three nights watching…USA! USA! USA!). The Olympics are a time where our world comes together to compete in friendly, and some not so friendly competition. From calling the Russians out on the doping scandal, to the phenomenal performances by USA gymnasts, this Olympics has been one for the books so far. Above all of the amazing performances, there has been an overlying presence that many of our athletes are acknowledging as they compete. This presence is one that has lacked much acknowledgement over the Olympics of the past. This presence is God.

I have found it pretty amazing how our American athletes are attributing much of their success to God on an international level. This has been something that has not been seen much, if at all, in many of the past Olympic games. The fact that these athletes are attributing so much to our Lord and Savior is quite phenomenal, especially in a world where it is becoming more and more taboo to be associated with the Christian faith. In our society, when you are called a Christian you are either labeled a hypocrite or a prude, yet these athletes, both young and old, are not afraid to speak up about there faith, and I think that is awesome.

One of the athletes that has really spoken out about her faith is young Laurie Hernandez of the powerhouse USA gymnastic team. Before she even became an Olympian, she was speaking out about her faith through YouTube videos and attributing her successes to the mercy of God. She focuses on what it means to be a Proverbs 31 woman, as well as how she can best serve our Lord through the thing she love, gymnastics. This young lady is a great example of a woman of God who isn’t afraid to claim Jesus Christ as her savior.

Another two athletes that have really impressed me this Olympics has been the Olympic divers, Steele Johnson and David Boudia These two men attributed their silver metal diving success to the one and only Jesus Christ. Not only did they attribute their success to him and his mercy, but they discussed how they are not defined by their Olympic success, but by serving Jesus Christ, and certainly to do just that, and I am not talking about the diving platform, but the Olympic games themselves.

One of the veteran athletes that has impressed me significantly is the great and powerful Michal Phelps. Many of us are very familiar with this Olympics all stars questionable past, but most of us are not familiar with the major life changes he has made since the London Olympics in 2012. From the depths of depression and poor decision-making, Michael Phelps has been battling many daemons overt the past four years. Phelps was struggling extremely when Football player, Ray Lewis, convinced him to go to rehab and get his life straightened out. While he was in rehab, he was introduced to Rick Warren’s "A Purpose Driven Life." Through this book, Phelps was reintroduced to Jesus Christ, and realized there was a purpose for his life beyond fame and fortune. This realization helped him turned his life around and become the humble and hardworking athlete we are seeing in the Rio Olympics this year. As my Mother would say, “Michael became a Jesus boy and look, he is so much nicer than he was in London.”

I’m not saying these athletes are perfect. I’m not saying they are saints and never do anything wrong, because they are human like the rest of us. WE all make mistakes, but these young people are not afraid to tell us who they are living for. They aren’t afraid to take the risks that proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that speaking up about him on an international platform can bring. I really think we can learn more from these athletes than just what it means to be good at sports. I think we can learn what it means to turn our lives around to live for Christ, or to put our worth in him instead of our successes, or even to seek to serve him in everything we do. Personally, these Christian athletes inspire me to take chances for God, to proclaim him, to thank him for both my successes and failures, and to find my self worth in him. So as you watch the Olympics I challenge you to reflect on what you can do to serve God in your everyday life, and to put aside the fear of proclaiming him in a world that isn’t a big fan of Christians. Personally, I don’t want to live a life of “almost” or “I should haves.” I want to live a crazy, spectacular life with fear behind me and being a beacon of God’s love. Just a thought.