Carly was a good basketball player. She was a tenacious defender, but she couldn't shoot the ball very well. But one thing I loved about Carly was that if the ball was available, she was going to get it. Carly understood the game quite well. Most of her shots weren't going in, so she learned what most players today do not — stop pouting about your miss and go get the ball! We had one drill in which Carly was the queen of the court. It was our 11 man break drill. In it, whoever got the rebound got to continue playing in the drill. Carly stayed in this drill one day for 11 trips up and down the floor. That's right. She got 11 straight rebounds to stay in the drill. She took great pride in knowing that when most of her shots were not going in she did what she did best: got the ball.

It has been said that life is not a playground, but a battleground. Most battles happen in the unseen world and play out in the physical world. Knowing this, God gives us spiritual armor to be prepared for battle. Every piece of armor—the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and sword of the Spirit—protects from the front. None provide protection for our backs. In fact, we are instructed in Philippians 3 to forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. God has our back. He gives us no armor for our backside because He has it covered. When we are right with God and confess our sins, we have nothing to fear. Proverbs 3 tells us that when we use good judgment, our sleep will be sweet.

Paul gave great instruction on how to live with the peace of God. It’s easy to get caught up in everything going on around us and lose sight of our true purpose on earth, which is to serve God. He has blessed me with the opportunity to play football. It’s my responsibility to give everything I’ve got and use my ability to the fullest while praying for His direction. Anything beyond that is out of my control. If I’ve truly given my best, then I can have peace no matter what happens in a game, during the season, or throughout my career. This is true in every area of our lives. An eternal perspective is important. We are only here for a short time compared to the scope of eternity.

Have you read the sports news lately? Is it filled with news that makes sports look pretty bad. Have we taken the competition in sports too far? Teenagers are killing each other with baseball bats, parents are shooting coaches, fans are taking swings at players on the field. Have we taken competition and the pressure to win to a whole new level? Where do we turn for answers?

FCA has put out a great guide for athletes, coaches and even parents. It is called the Competitor's Creed. It's made up of six verses that represent how we should compete and play for Christ. Today's athletes and coaches are being pushed to win at all cost, but if we truly compete with Christ in mind, our desire will be to honor Him--not ourselves as athletes and coaches.

I stood at his grave in a beautiful cemetery. His grave was inconspicuous. The marker was very simple, with only his name on it. It was a moving experience for me.

I had first met this man eleven years before his death. For years I had watched and admired him from a distance and never dreamed I would get to meet him. In fact, I actually got to be with him on several occasions over the years. I cannot say I knew him well, but I was as impressed after getting to know him as I was prior to knowing him. He was a man of character, integrity, and humility. He was real. He was down to earth.

How many times has a coach handed us a playbook or drawn a play diagram for us on the board? How many of us ever take our playbook home and look at it before bed just so we have an idea of what is going on? If we don’t understand the plays from the playbook, how many of us ever take the time to ask the coach about the plays and how to execute them properly? I used to be one of the guys who thought he’d learned something just by looking over his playbook.

As Christians many of us do the same thing with our Bibles. We pick them up here and there and look for the right “play” for our situation, or we skim them over hoping that we will gain wisdom by reading without going into depth.

There is a story from the French Revolution that tells of a man who was seen running after a mob. As he moved quickly into danger, somebody screamed, “Stop! Stop! Don’t follow that mob!” He continued to sprint toward them, calling back, “I have to follow them! I’m their leader!”