All too often ministers who lose votes take it personally—they get offended. Worse yet, they fail to see how others could possibly disagree with them and thus believe that their colleagues have somehow compromised the truth because they opposed you.

Years ago, I had my first experience as a parent sitting on the sidelines and cheering for my son as he played organized team soccer. I have to say it was quite the experience. I got very caught up in the games and became as excited or more than watching professional sports playoff games. It was very thrilling to watch my son’s team make it to the championship game, come from behind, and then tie the game to send it into overtime. The game was a heartbreaker—they resolved the tie by going to a shootout, and my son’s team held its own, but the other team was able to nudge them by one shot and take first place. I could tell that my son and his teammates were devastated—to come so close yet come up with second place was tough. I sat down with my son and told him that he did well and had nothing to be ashamed of. I also talked to him about the importance of losing.

I told him it’s easy to win—there’s no disappointment or sadness. It’s easy to be humble when you’ve given the other team a drubbing—it’s easy to shake their hands and say, “Good game!” But when you lose, it’s a lot tougher to receive that handshake from the winner. When you lose, it’s difficult to be humble and not want to walk off the field in anger or frustration.

Read More