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Whether it’s grading films, evaluating staff, or being evaluated by a superior, we’re all familiar with some standard of measurement—systems by which we determine how things are going. God has a system too. His system is called the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. If we have broken even one of these commandments, the Bible says we’re guilty of breaking them all (Jms 2:10).
I once read about a basketball coach who told a player who received four Fs and one D on his report card, “Son, looks like you’re spending too much time on one subject.” That kind of wisdom is trouble. Too often wisdom is considered to be just “smarts,” but it is much more than that. Knowledge is knowing, but wisdom is knowing when to use it.
One day, the team was practicing when their coach had to leave for a minute. Once the coach was out of sight, the team started acting up and shooting half-court shots. Suddenly, out of nowhere they heard a voice say, ”I saw that.” One player made the comment, “Man, Coach must have eyes everywhere.” In sports, the eyes of a coach are always watching even when no one thinks they are looking.
Football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” That's so true. To be a winner you must make a commitment to sticking with a task and following through with it. We all want to be winners, but many things, including the many temptations to make bad choices, stand in our way. Those choices often keep potential winners on the sidelines.
Life is full of trade-offs. The bad choices you make today are the down payments on your problems tomorrow. It's all a part of living under God's law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:8).
In the movie Invincible, the story of Philadelphia Eagles fan-turned-NFL-pro Vince Papale plays out on the big screen. After losing his job and wife, he was told he would never amount to anything, that he wouldn’t make any money, and wasn’t going anywhere.
Some of us have experienced a coach saying, “You’re not talented enough. You won’t make it.” Possibly a coworker, spouse, friend, or parent has caused doubt.
In 1998, the Ohio State Buckeyes beat Northwestern 36–10, but personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct tainted the win. OSU’s coach at the time, John Cooper, made a point to his number-one ranked team, emphasizing that there is no place in football for trash talking and taunting and that it can be a distraction more than a help. Guard Rob Murphy said, “He got his point across.”
Discussing the numerous flags that were thrown during the game, Cooper demanded that the trash-talk behavior stop. Again Murphy said, “I agree. We need to play more and talk less.”
As a high school basketball coach, I often notice that my players are influenced by the past. After a winning streak, they can begin to believe that they are better than they actually are. Such overconfidence often leads to deflating defeats. Of course, the same deflation typically occurs after a losing streak because the team loses confidence.
In order to avoid either extreme—overconfidence or none at all—many coaches encourage the team members to stay focused. In our program, we remind our players to focus on what lies ahead rather than on the past. After each game, we say, “The season starts tomorrow.” This helps us remember all we can achieve as a team.
Some people say that difficult times develop character. I believe, however, that hard times reveal the character that’s already inside a person.
In Romans 8:18, the Apostle Paul reminded his friends that in times of suffering we have a strong assurance that better things are on the way.
Every football player knows the value of a good offensive line. There’s a mild disgust when a defensive back finds a hole and the play is over before the offense could produce something. That’s where it all starts—or ends. There’s something formed in the hearts of men/women when they stand shoulder to shoulder with their teammates; and the strength as a unit is greater than the sum of the parts. There’s a bond formed and a confidence forged deep in the soul.
To persevere means to persist in an undertaking in spite of opposition or discouragement. The 2007 Boston Marathon was run under adverse weather conditions. The temperature was in the low 40's, and the wind blew at 30 miles per hour blowing gusts that reached up to 50. To run in those conditions takes more than training, more than carbo-loading, more than simply desiring to finish the race. That day, it took a will to persist in spite of opposition and extreme discouragement.
Hebrews 12:1 gives a command to develop perseverance. Satan is a formidable enemy. To overcome him takes more than training, more than doing the right thing, more than desiring to be good. To defeat our spiritual enemy takes perseverance. How do you develop perseverance?
I had just witnessed one of the most exciting and gut-wrenching football games of my life. The home team fought its way back from a ten-point deficit in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and sent the game into overtime. However, an interception destroyed the home team’s effort to win. For what seemed like an eternity, the stands were quiet; no one was quite sure how to respond, but as the team began to leave the field, the fans stood, clapped, and cheered. The home team had lost the game but had captured the hearts of the fans.
Baseball is often a game of controlled failure. Failing 7 out of 10 times can be considered a success. Unfortunately, this isn’t the same in our relationships.
In a large local tournament, one of our top players chose to play with a stronger team—a choice he was allowed to make. I was glad for him because he made a decision and stuck with it. Some families were offended because they felt we could win the tournament if we had him with us.
It was a long day, my schedule was out of whack, and the time I put aside to train was messed up. If that wasn’t enough, the aches and pains from summer workouts were wearing me down. Then the clouds rolled in and rain began to fall. I decided to make up my workout another day.
I sat and read a devotion book. The author told of struggling one day to keep his focus on the task set before him. He tried several things to get his mind on track, but nothing worked. Then he remembered John 10:10: “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.” Was Satan keeping him from doing what God had planned for him?
During the 2008 Olympics, NBC aired a special segment on the diet of record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps. It was incredible! They said that he tries to eat 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day. That is as much as I eat in five days. But when Phelps is in heavy training and competition, his body needs all the fuel it can get.
Allow me to make a quick analogy. As Christians, we’re in a daily spiritual battle, facing tough temptations, situations, interactions, and decisions. It’s our own version of competition, yet there’s a lot more at stake than a sporting event. The eternity of souls is up for grabs, and God has called us to compete for them.
Our family plays a game at the dinner table called “Would you rather . . .?” When we ask this question our children have to answer with such questions as, “Would you rather win a World Series or a Super Bowl?” One night, I asked my three kids: “Would you rather be a great leader or a great servant?” I barely had time to finish before my ten-year-old said, “Dad, they’re the same thing. If you serve someone, you’re showing and teaching someone what Jesus would do!” After overcoming my astonishment at the maturity of one so young, I realized how right she was. She already understood that a great servant is always a great leader, but a leader is not necessarily a servant.
This year I have decided to run my second marathon. Currently I am in the middle of my training and have hit a wall. Actually my training buddy and I both hit a wall. After putting in over 50 miles of running a week for 8 straight weeks, our bodies are tired and our motivation is lacking.
Why is it that when we can’t do something, such as not compete due to injury, we would give anything to get back to where we were? Yet when we are in the best shape of our lives, we take for granted the precious gift God has given us.
“It’s OK. They won’t hurt you.”
“It will make you better, bigger, stronger.”
“Don’t worry, no one will ever know...”
These are some of the phrases that student-athletes hear when they are encouraged to take steroids. The pursuit of greatness is so powerful today that many athletes—young athletes—are doing things that put their lives in jeopardy. I am sure that there are two voices they are hearing, but there is only one that they should be listening to.
One of my favorite Olympic events is the high jump. It is quite simply a thing of beauty to see the competitors in this event propel their bodies over a bar suspended almost eight feet in the air. It seems so effortless. The goal of each jumper is to jump the highest that they can while obtaining a minimal amount of failures.
Cut from the team. Knee blows out senior year. Lost the state title. Playing time disappears. Your mistake costs the team a win. As a competitor, all these things are considered tough trials. Add to that academic pressure or conflict at home and you can feel overwhelmed.
Sacrifice is something most people never even consider, let alone complete. Let’s consider what it is to be a living sacrifice.
At the time of this writing by Paul, sacrifices were usually killed and laid upon an altar to be burned. The problem with “living sacrifices” is that they tend to crawl off the altar when it gets a little hot. We start with good intentions of making a sacrifice for our teammates, our family, or career, but when it gets uncomfortable we often snatch the sacrifice from the altar and lose the reward that comes from faithfulness.
When I was 8 years old, I did a lot of dreaming. My dad would take me to college lacrosse games, and I would stand by the field saying, “One day I want to play on that field!”
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