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 past winter I was having the best wrestling season of my life. I was physically and mentally strong, and I was able to fight hard. In my excitement about wrestling, I started watching tons of wrestling videos and quite dramatically stopped reading my Bible and doing devotions every morning before school. My life flipped completely from God being No. 1 to wrestling being the only thing I cared about.

Over a period of 2.5 months, I wrestled every day, not missing any practice. Then, God started trying to wake me up to see what I was doing. I got really sick, and then I permanently hurt my back. Still, I wouldn't listen to God; I kept right on ignoring Him.