To hear Ryan Hall nonchalantly describe his winding journey as a long-distance runner isn’t much different from watching him glide with apparent ease through treacherous hills and valleys en route to the finish line. But just because he makes it look effortless doesn’t mean his path to competitive greatness has been without a fair number of trials and tribulations.

“I’ve had a really rocky journey,” Hall says. “The hardest thing is picking yourself up after a shattered dream or an injury or when you know you didn’t give your best.”

Competition is an obvious part of the coaching life, resulting in either winning or losing. But God’s Word reminds us not to get so caught up in the results that we forget to take care of the flock—the athletes—who have been put under our watch.

Of course, we all want to win. Yet if we forget that we’re really working toward an imperishable crown (as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:25), then we’ve lost sight of why we’re coaching in the first place. In other words, just as we live our lives to please the Good Shepherd, so too should we coach our players with the same goal. In the process, we’ll serve as examples to the sheep. 

I don’t know about your neighborhood, but when I was younger we had the “do over.” Remember? You took a swing and your foot went out from under you. You mis-kicked the ball in a kickball game because you slipped on some wet grass. What were the first words to come out of your mouth? “Do over!!”

Did you know that God gave us a “do over”? Paul wrote the church in Corinth that when they accepted Christ they became a new creation. Well, thousands of years later, the same is still true for us. When we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we become a new creation.

I had to make a tough decision in my senior year of high school. Coming out of basketball season, I had to decide between playing baseball or running track. My junior year, I had played baseball because we didn't have enough boys to fill a track team. My senior year, however, presented a dilemma. If I ran track, there would be just enough to have team. If I didn't, there wouldn't be a track team that year. When I approached my baseball coach about it, he told me that I would never do anything in track and that his baseball team would probably be going to the state finals. My decision was simple after that. I chose track.

Integrity isn’t just something you display when you’re out in public or on the job. It also carries over to your family, to your kids, to your neighbors, to everybody who comes into contact with you. Am I saying things to my family like, “This is what I want you to do,” but I don’t necessarily do them? Am I saying, “This is what we’re going to be all about as a family,” but maybe next week it won’t be? I think that’s very confusing and it’s important to let my family know here are our standards, the Lord’s standards. This is what we’re going to try to live up to. Sure we’re going to fail at times and we’re going to fall short, but this is what we need to be about.

Have you ever wondered why we are so competitive as athletes and coaches? Why when we get onto the playing field we take on a whole new persona? The competitive nature to win comes out in us all. We sacrifice for the team! We lay down that bunt or make the block so that the rest of the team can rejoice in the victory.

Our flesh is competitive, but so is our Spirit. In Galatians 5, Paul talks about this very thing. Our flesh and our Spirit are at war with each other. The things of God are always and will always be completely different from the things of the flesh.

Have you ever met someone who feels they have all the gifts God gives to people? They are exhausted—spread so thin they are no earthly good to anyone. At times, we all try to do too much. Sometimes we are asked to go beyond our gifts and talents, but God’s desire is for us to serve Him with how He has gifted us.

Paul’s concern for the Roman people was that each person’s gift would be identified and he or she would strive to use it appropriately. However, some people looked at others and grumbled over why they did not have that gift or if that person truly was gifted in that manner. It was exhausting. Paul encouraged them to work together to build God’s kingdom.

Mike was a great athlete. He could play almost any sport with ease. He was popular, and everyone wanted to follow his example. Mike had given his heart to Christ and had begun following God's plan, but his old friends and old ways resurfaced often. So, when he was approached recently by his friends who were going out to party and wanted him to attend, Mike had to make a choice.

What talent impresses God? No one can argue that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever, or that Tiger Woods is the most talented golfer in the world. But does their talent surprise God? Is Jesus amazed when Tiger sinks a fifteen-foot putt or when Jordan makes a game-winning basket? No, because He gave them these athletes their ability, so their victories are no surprise to Him. Actually, nothing surprises God. He has always known the end from the beginning in all matters.