No Contest
No Contest
When I was about eight years old, the college where my dad taught held a Fall Festival and costume contest. Faculty families were encouraged to join the fun, so we pieced together a “football player” costume for me that looked more like a laundry mishap with numbers on it. I wore sweatpants with socks pulled to my knees and a bargain-bin numbered shirt. We shoved a few dishtowels onto my shoulders for “pads” and borrowed a generic Kmart-level helmet.
Looking back, I’m sure I looked absolutely ridiculous, but I proudly walked past the judges’ table that night. In my young mind, I was certain they were sizing me up as a potential winner. And yes, I was disappointed when my name wasn’t called.
Of course, I now realize the judges weren’t even looking at me. I was just a teacher’s kid in a lame costume. I wasn’t a student. I wasn’t even really in the contest! I was there because I belonged to the family.
That small memory has grown more meaningful over time. I wasn’t overlooked because I wasn’t good enough. I was simply never meant to be competing. My place there wasn’t something to earn; it was already given through relationship.
The whole scenario reflects the way we often live. At some level, we all feel the pressure to “appease the judges.” We’re striving to prove ourselves in “contests” we never entered — how we parent, how we work, how we serve in church or the community. Social media only amplifies the noise.
Yes, we should do our best in life, but the issue isn’t the effort itself. It’s the mindset that says, “I’m a contestant, and someone’s judgment determines my worth.”
God invites us into a very different reality. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” That freedom doesn’t just release us from sin; it frees us from the compulsion to chase the approval of the wrong audience.
The pages of Scripture are crowded with people who didn’t fit the world’s expectations but found favor with God. Judged by human standards, even Jesus Himself was deemed a criminal worthy of death (Mark 15:27–28). Human judgment is often blind, but God’s assessment is perfect.
So as another season of costumes and disguises rolls around, may we be reminded that our worth isn’t earned by appearances or effort. It rests securely in God’s love. The only audience that matters is the One who already knows us and calls us His own. We don’t have to earn our place — we already belong to the family.
”See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
- Ron Reid