Ross Bell

Ross Bell

Germantown High School — Broadmoor Baptist Church

A Situation Where I Lived Out My Faith

I strive to live out my faith every day no matter where I am. God puts me in situations to make a difference, whether it is witnessing to schoolmates, doing an act of kindness, or sharing a scripture with someone. One specific situation, occurred on when I was playing in a very important high school golf tournament my sophomore year. After 18 holes, I ended up tied for first place, which caused us to enter into a playoff. I was playing against one of the best players in the state and, at that point, I had never beaten him in a tournament. As he was about to hit the ball from the wrong tee location, which would have been a two-stroke penalty and would all but have guaranteed I would win, I noticed his error. I stopped him and told him of his mistake, at which time he thanked me, but asked why I did that as it helped him in the sudden-death playoff. I told him that I felt it was the right thing to do. He went on to win the playoff on that hole. Although no competitor likes to lose, I felt the peace of doing what I thought was right. When playing competitive golf, I always mark my golf ball with a cross on it. Although it serves to identify my ball from others, it also serves to remind me that I represent God on good shots and, more importantly, bad shots. Sometimes, we live out our faith best on the bad shots in life.

Favorite Scripture

My favorite passage from the bible is Colossians 3:23 which says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” I started playing golf in sixth grade. The following year, I set a goal to play college golf and stopped playing all other sports to focus on golf. Though most kids started playing golf at a much younger age than I did, I worked hard and was able to earn a scholarship to play golf at Mississippi State next year. Colossians 3:23 serves as motivation for me to work hard and persevere to see what God can do through me. And it doesn’t just apply to golf; it applies to everything! Whether it’s schoolwork, household chores, church activities, or helping a stranger, this verse is my favorite because it has inspired me.