Sydney McLaughlin, an Olympic gold medalist and hurdler, is encouraging her fans to reject perfectionism because the only perfect one is God.
In a recent interview with The Christian Post, Levrone discussed her upcoming book Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith. She explained that the title of her book stressed that it's not about medals or records or titles; all of those are going to perish.”
“The one thing that’s unchanging is my faith in Christ, and that is the most valuable thing,” Levrone contended, adding that her life’s purpose is “being able to share that truth with people and allow them to come to know and love the Lord in the way in which I have come to know and love.”
“God has been so kind in just allowing me the opportunity to, first of all, fail without Him and realize my need for Him,” she said. “Living my life for so long apart from Him and trying to succeed in a worldly measure of what success looks like, it always left me empty even when I attained it.”
Levrone highlighted perfection as “unattainable in this life,” encouraging readers to “always strive for excellence” and “always strive to do things … in a manner worthy of the calling of God.”
“At the end of the day, we are fallen, sinful humans who will fall short in this life,” she continued.
“In trying to attain perfection, we’re diminishing the need for Christ,” she said. “In appreciating Him as our Savior, we humble ourselves to realize that we are not perfect.”
“The Lord is sufficient in all things, and being able to glorify Him through my career and my life on the track has shown me a purpose bigger than myself,” Levrone added. “Being able to share the Gospel in those moments is what it’s all about. The point shows that even what should be the pinnacle of your career as an athlete is actually about Him.”
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.