Bernhard Langer's story     I became a Christian immediately after winning the US Masters in 1985. Up to that point, my career had been one of steady progress: getting on the tour, winning for the first time, being top of the European money list, making the Ryder Cup team and now, winning a major. Everyone told me that if you were a major winner then that would be the greatest thing, and it was – it was a thrilling event and I was very happy. But it wasn’t what I thought it would be and there was still something missing, a feeling of emptiness. I thought I had achieved everything, even more than I could ever have dreamed of. I had all the money I needed and a beautiful young wife – I had everything! And yet it wasn’t enough. It was like, ‘Well, where do we go now?’ I didn’t have real peace. It was as if there was still something missing. I always thought that if you win this tournament, or that tournament, if you made that much money then that’s gotta be it. You’re gonna feel wonderful. I felt good but I didn’t feel wonderful. I had achieved another of the milestones I had set myself. Great commercial opportunities would open up to me. But underneath it all there was a nagging question – is that it? Is that all there is? I had scaled the mountain but somehow the summit did not seem as exciting when I reached it as I had expected. There was an emptiness within me, saying there must be more to life than this. I was very friendly with Bobby Clampett at that time and still am. Bobby is best known to readers in the UK for his great attempt to win the Open Championship in 1982. The Tuesday of the next week I played a practice round at Hilton Head with Bobby and must have shared some of this with him because he said to me, ‘Why don’t you come with us to the tour Bible study tomorrow night?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ And he explained, ‘A group of players and wives just meet for an hour and we read the Bible and pray together. I had grown up as a Roman Catholic, so I knew about God and felt comfortable with the idea, so I said, ‘Sure, I’ll come along.’ I also wanted to know more. As an altar boy in the Catholic Church, I had seen the priest with the Bible but I had never had my own. I figured I had it all together; I believed in God and hoped I would get to heaven. As I got more and more successful, I didn’t need God. It was easy with a lifestyle like mine to get all wrapped up in things like cars, houses, position in the world rankings, the money list and so on. It seemed easy to be greedy, jealous and full of myself. My priorities were golf, golf, and more golf; then myself, and finally a little time with my wife. Every now and then I prayed, but if my golf game was not good, my whole life was miserable, and I made everyone around me miserable. I always thought just being a good person and keeping the commandments would hopefully get me to heaven. I didn’t steal or kill and I tried not to hurt anyone on purpose. But as I got more and more successful, I thought I could do it all myself. The leader of the study, Larry Moody, was speaking from John, chapter 3. Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again. I had never heard this before, but it was exactly the message I needed to hear. Larry went on to explain what it meant in practical terms. I was amazed to realise that the only way to have eternal life was through Jesus Christ – that he died for our sins. And that it was not through worthy deeds or good behaviour that one received eternal life, because we can never live up to God’s standard. We will always fall short. I talked to Larry again. I had a lot of questions. I got my own Bible and read sections of it. After a period of time I began to realise that I had to make a choice. As I understood that God loved me so much that he sent his only Son to die for my sins, it was natural for me to ask the Lord into my life. Basically I just had to trust in him to forgive my sins. I had to make him the number one priority in my life, do everything to please him and not try to do it all myself. That hasn’t always been easy. At times it has been very difficult because I still have a sinful nature. An extra problem is that the standards of the modern world, where achievement is all, are a lot different from what they are supposed to be. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life and no one gets to the Father but through me.’ If you realise what this means you’ve got to stop, think about it for a second and then turn around and really focus on what you are doing in this world. No one in this world is good enough to get to heaven by their own deeds, but at the same time no one is bad enough that they couldn’t be saved by Jesus Christ. When I realised that Jesus had died on the cross for my sins, for everybody’s sins and I had to give over my life to him, I just recognised that this is the most important step or most important decision that I would ever have to take. Jesus Christ stopped me in my tracks with his words, ’You must be reborn to enter the kingdom of God.’ Since that day in 1985, my faith has played a big part in my life. It puts my priorities in a different order. Before I became a Christian my priorities were all about me and doing well on the golf course. Now my first priority is pleasing God, second is my family and golf only third. I believe when your priorities are right, everything is managed better. Obviously at certain times, like when I am playing a tournament, golf is in a sense number one but overall I try to keep things in perspective so that golf is in its proper place in my life. I think I have been able to work out the right balance of time in my life and try to give sufficient time to the family and not let golf become dominant. Some people say Christianity is a crutch for the weak. I think that is definitely wrong. I regard myself as a strong person but I need God in my life. Christianity is just a way of life that leads to eternal life with God in heaven and whether you are weak or strong or whether you feel you are fortunate or unfortunate has nothing to do with eternal life at all My wife, Vikki, felt the same, and she also accepted Christ as her Saviour. Since then, I have seen tremendous changes in her life, my own life, our relationship as husband and wife, and the way we treat our friends and others in this world. It was a life-changing week at Hilton Head and, by the way, I also won the golf tournament, the Sea Pines Heritage Classic. -----   Taken from Bernhard Langer - My Autobiography ----------------------------- Bernhard Langer is a German golfer who turned professional in 1976 and has won many events in Europe and the United States, among them The Masters in 1985 and 1993. He was the inaugural World Number 1 when the Official World Golf Rankings were introduced in 1986, and he became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.