Let’s consider who has had the biggest influence on our athletic careers. Has there been more than one person who has made a significant impact on our abilities as athletes? First Corinthians 3:6 speaks about compounded influence.

In Paul’s first letter to his friends in Corinth, he used a familiar farming illustration. Let’s turn Paul’s farming comparison into a sports analogy.

Growing an athlete is like growing crops. There’s obvious collaboration among those who plant, cultivate, irrigate, and harvest. In the same way, growing a champion involves the compounding influences of parents, coaches, teammates, opponents, and so on.

Friday night at a high school football game, I saw something that doesn’t happen very often: an offense had a first-and-goal opportunity at the one-yard line and they failed to score. The opposing defense came up big and made a huge stand to prevent the touchdown that probably would have lost them the game.

In life, how often do we feel like we're down-and-out, like Satan and his team have marched the ball straight down the field until they're standing with first-and-goal on our one-yard line just about ready to punch it in and score? Often, when we're at our weakest, winning seems impossible. The devil attacks hoping for the easy kill.

Preseason: a time of intense workouts, two-a-days, ice baths, and maximum exertion!

Fall sports are just now emerging from this intense time. Great teams are being forged through the crucible of preseason and are getting ready to run the gauntlet of the regular season. But as tough as those preseason workouts may be, there is one day that athletes dread even more: the day the cuts are made.

As an athlete, I remember the rapid heartbeat in my chest, the doubts and anxiety, the holding in of my breath as I walked into the locker room to see if my name was on a list. I dreaded the voice of the coach saying, “Son, step into my office.” But, on the flipside, it was always such a great experience if I did make the cut and saw the diligence pay off!

I love to visit and speak at our area Huddles. Recently, after speaking at a school in Geneva, Ill., I lingered to visit with the Huddle Coaches before I left. That day, I’d spoken about making a difference by doing a radical act of kindness for a person in their building. As with all of us who share messages in front of crowds, I never know what impact my words will have on the lives of those who are listening, but being faithful to deliver the truth of God’s promises is what matters most.