The Scoreboard Principle

The Scoreboard Principle
The Scoreboard Principle is a principle that can be illustrated through a basketball game. The idea is that when a team seems to be losing, the players must take their gaze away from the scoreboard that displays their current score and focus on the game itself. The scoreboard can reveal their present condition, but it has no power to change the outcome of the game. Only what happens on the court, the actions, decisions, and effort of the players, can change the narrative.
This principle can be applied to many areas of life, including Scripture. A clear example is found in Numbers 21:4 to 9. The Israelites sinned against God, and venomous snakes came among them, leaving many of them wounded. Logically, a person who has been bitten by a snake would naturally focus on the injury and the pain. However, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole, and anyone who looked at it would live.
The healing did not come from staring at the wound; it came from fixing their gaze on what God had provided for their salvation. Jesus later referred to this event when He said that the Son of Man would be lifted up, and that whoever looks to Him and believes would have eternal life (John 3:14 to 15).
The writer of Hebrews also tells us to “look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). This further emphasizes the same principle: fix your gaze on Jesus. Above every situation, every challenge, and every problem we face, our focus should remain on Him.
The problems themselves are not the solution. The struggles we face cannot save us from themselves. Jesus alone is the solution to whatever we are facing. Just as the Israelites were not healed by looking at their wounds but by looking at the bronze serpent God provided, we are not transformed by constantly fixing our attention on our struggles with sin. We are transformed by fixing our gaze on Christ.
This principle is not limited to our walk with Christ alone; it also applies to other areas of life. There are times when you look at your life and realize you have been wasting time or making poor decisions. It is good to reflect on those things and honestly evaluate yourself, but do not dwell on them. Those problems, mistakes, or time wasting activities are not the solution in themselves.
The solution is taking the right action to change the narrative. Just as a basketball team does not change the score by staring at the scoreboard but by playing the game, we do not change our lives by endlessly focusing on our problems. We change the outcome by taking the right actions. Reflection has its place, but action is what changes the story.
That is the essence of the Scoreboard Principle: do not let your attention remain fixed on what only reveals your condition. Fix your gaze on what God has provided, and take the actions that will change the narrative.