Our ability to handle the disappointments we will experience in sports is proportional to the degree to which our minds are fixed on the Lord and our hearts are trusting in Him (Isaiah 26:3-4).

How you respond to setbacks in sports quickly reveals where you are looking for your sense of security, value, and worth.

The better you understand the grace, mercy, wisdom, and sovereignty of God, the better equipped you will be to handle the challenges of competing and coaching in a sports culture infected by sin.

As God commissioned Joshua (1:8-9), He reminded Joshua of something we have a tendency to forget: Obedience to God’s Word is the only necessary prerequisite for success.

As Christian coaches and athletes, we must remember that our level of success isn’t determined by the scoreboard, but by the degree of our obedience to God’s Word.

God cares much less about the quality and result of your performance on the field than He does the extent to which you faithfully represent Him as an ambassador of His kingdom.

According to David, the events of today’s practice or competition were intentionally formed by the hands of an infinitely sovereign and gracious God (Psalm 139:16).

Each day of your entire athletic career was already written into the Lord’s book before you ever experienced a single one them. Every moment at practice and every play in competition was carefully authored by the perfect will of God.

The success we experience in sports has a tendency to become the breeding grounds for arrogance and conceit. Don’t be surprised when a thorn is “given” to you to protect you from yourself (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

The temptation toward self-reliance experienced by coaches and athletes is a challenge that must be intentionally guarded against each day.

Athletes typically spend the majority of their time living in fear of their weaknesses being exposed. In God’s wisdom, He instructs us instead to live in fear of Him, and to guard ourselves against our delusions of strength and self-sufficiency.

Psalm 121:1-2 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. The gospel crucifies our illusion of self-sufficiency.

Romans 4:18-25

Hebrews 11:17-19

John 6:60-65

Romans 5:1-5

1 Samuel 12:20-22

Psalm 40-16-17 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!” As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!