Trophies Are Amazing, But My Heart Is Elsewhere

There are many difficulties that come with losing loved ones. One of the most challenging parts of losing my parents was dealing with their home and stuff. In our case, my sister and I, were left to clean out the house that we grew up in. My parents had lived there about 40 years. Goodness was it full. It was overwhelming to say the least.

Everything required a decision – sell it, keep it, donate it, throw it away. It’s emotional, exhausting, and it feels painfully strange. One of the odd things that sticks out in my mind were trophies and awards. I had several sports awards that had lived on the same built-in bookshelf and collected dust for years. Winning teams, all-tournament teams, “most” something or other. I threw every single one of them in the dumpster.

I earned them for sure. There were no participation trophies in that bunch. They were trophies earned on the back of winning games, running miles, doing drill after drill after drill, of sweaty practices, of jammed fingers, bruised knees, stitches, and sprained ankles, and sacrificing time for other things. They were visible rewards of what was hard earned. I tossed the trophies in favor of the memories; in favor of the grit and resiliency that I earned along with them. Those qualities serve me today. Trophies don’t.

I’ve earned a few other awards since then, but a trophy I received last week has got me once again thinking about this topic. I was fortunate enough to receive another trophy for writing. I have a few under my belt from my newspaper days. The journalism awards were for doing my job well. This most recent award came with deep sacrifices that more resembled those athletic trophies from years ago.

At its core, it’s about value. What do we really value? I could throw trophies away because the value was never actually in the trophies themselves. The value was seldom in something that I could see and touch. It was in the results of the hard work. It was in the person I have become years later.

One of the things my sister and I often talked about during the hard days of sorting through our parents’ possessions was Matthew 6:19-22 (NIV), “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.”

A new trophy simply makes me reevaluate where my treasure is located. Though being recognized and appreciated for my words here is certainly nice, that’s not my goal. Being obedient to God is my goal. It’s not the trophies I collect here on earth have my heart – it’s trying to run the race that God has set out for me.

The rewards I seek simply aren’t in this life. The older I get, and the deeper I fall in love with Christ, the more I have seen what I value shift to the eternal. It’s not the trophy for writing but the words that land with someone that matters the most to me. If my words point someone to Jesus or offer hope, light, or encouragement to someone who is struggling, then I’ve been hugely successful.

It’s not a score and rewards kept on a bookcase that should move and motivate us, but rather staying focused on running the race God has called us to run. He can hand out the awards that will never rot or be stolen. That’s where we need to put our sweat equity. That’s putting value where it belongs. It’s storing up treasure in Heaven.

Simply put, we’re never going to be fully satisfied with successes and the ensuing rewards in this life. It’s never going to feel as great as we build it up in our minds. We’re never going to actually “arrive.” There will always be something else to chase, someone doing it better, or another mountain to climb. It’s all shifting sand.

Friends, it’s good to have goals and perfectly okay to accept the trophies you’ve earned. But there’s a very real danger in making that your motivation or putting your hope in something that won’t last. Don’t get too caught up in earthly rewards. Let’s focus our hearts more on those treasures with eternal value. Where is your heart today?