The highlight of my boyhood summers was spending a week or more with the Mackey boys, a family friendship that began when our mothers were children--neighbors in East L.A.--and has endured for three generations. I lived in Lynwood, a quiet suburb of Los Angeles; the Mackeys lived across the basin in the more metropolitan city of Burbank. We rode bicycles; we collected baseball cards; we played ball. We played baseball in the park; Wiffle ball in the street; and football in, well, the Valhalla Cemetery of North Hollywood, the next town over.

Our pick-up games would inevitably attract other youngsters, most of whom took our games a lot more seriously than we did. Smiles morphed into scowls; teammates became competitors; play devolved into aggression. Mike and Mark would usually tire of the competition and exit the game first. I'd follow a short time later. David would stick it out to the end.

Although I love sports as a participant and as a spectator, I find competition wearisome.  

Especially when it shows up in me. 

All of which reminds me, curiously enough, of the Apostle Paul's contrast of the deeds (plural) of the flesh and the fruit (singular) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-23). The deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit comprise something of a divine assessment tool for gauging spiritual formation. Even a cursory reading suggests that most all of the qualities--from both lists--are relational. It's evidence--alongside the two foremost commands, "Love God...love neighbor"--that confirms following Jesus is all about relationship.

But what do the deeds and fruit have to do with a competitive instinct?

Just this, the fruit of the Spirit reflects a sense of community; the deeds of the flesh reflect a sense of competition. A competitive nature does not inevitably lead to Paul's deeds of the flesh; it can, however, move a person from an other-oriented life to a self-oriented life. Away from a place favorable to spiritual transformation. 

How badly do you hate to lose? At anything. 

Do your relationships and social interactions reflect a spirit of competition? Or do they reflect a spirit of community?

Does your competitive spirit hinder your spiritual formation?

What's the place awaiting transformation?