One of our biggest fears is playing in an individual stroke play tournament. We all fear posting a score higher (or much higher) than what we think reflects our true ability. Our friends might realize we aren’t good as they thought we were. Thus, most amateurs refuse to play on this type of format. Most will play in two man or four man scrambles all summer long because you can always put the blame on our partners. We realize our score is not always indicative of our true skill level. We have good days and really bad days when it feels as if we have never played the game. We sometimes have the same feelings about our Christian walk. We may say or do things which our friends may wonder about our walk with Christ. Truthfully, sometimes we doubt ourselves when we allow the “spirit of the world” fly too close to us. These times happen when we permit the “things of self” get in the way, i.e. anger, lust, and pride. However, the believer cannot truly be an angry, lustful or prideful person. It isn’t possible. We can “act” in those selfish ways, but the true spirit of Christ and our core is loving, humble, and giving. As we can read about later in the chapter, Christ was “in the form of God, but did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” He took the form of a servant. Sometimes we put ourselves in the reversal of those roles. The closer we become with Christ and the more we grow, the easier it is to exude the “fruits of the spirit.” It is still alive, but the lusts of the flesh are slowly dying. Thus, sometimes like the scorecard, you gotta look beyond the number!