Several times each week, I write for our daily devotional at Links Players International. The devotion I have prepped for Thursday seems appropriately shared with you here:

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. (Romans 6:8, NIV)

It has been an easy week for the sportswriters. The contrasts between winner Phil Mickelson and the returning Tiger Woods on Sunday in Augusta made it so. One local writer where I live spelled out the contrast succinctly: “Even if Tiger had won, his wife would not have been there to hug him.”

And then there was the contrast between Woods and fellow non-winner Lee Westwood in their post-round interviews. Only one was gracious—exceedingly so, as a matter of fact. There’s something quite redemptive, I realized again, about a loser who can wear a smile.

Sorry, Tiger, but it looks like it’s still you against the world.

Until I hold you up to the mirror of Scripture.

The Bible does have plenty to say about the differences between men. It notes that some are brought up in riches and others in poverty. Some bear the genes of God’s first chosen people (Jews), others the genes of His second (Gentiles). Some are Spirit-gifted to be mercy-givers and others to be money-givers—in fact, march right on down the list of gifts, if you like. And, the Bible observes, some men behave righteously, while others write the book on wicked.

But at its core, the Bible is more concerned about what is the same among men. The same between Tiger and Phil, the same between you and me. Look:

- “No temptation has seized you except that which is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). All of us face temptations—toward pride or prejudice or profanity, you name it. All of us. Even the good guys.

- “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). All of us give in to at least some of those temptations, disobeying God’s design for our body and soul. We are sinners. All of us. Even the good guys.

- “[Christ] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15). We are all of us in need of a Savior. We are all of us at His mercy if we are to be plucked from our tempted, sinful condition and brought into the glory we otherwise fall short of. None of us are exempt from this desperate need. Even the good guys. 

So maybe my job today is as easy as the sportswriters’ has been this week. For nothing has changed. Still, no one is good enough on his or her own to purchase salvation. Not even the good guys. And no one is bad enough to disqualify himself from the love that went to the cross. That is because the winners in the eternal struggle are all the same. They are the ones who believe: “The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference” (Romans 3:22).