"Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." — Mark 10:14b
I was coaching a junior high boy’s basketball team and having a great time. During one game, however, the team was not executing well. I called a time-out and gave the boys a lecture while they sat on the bench. I paused to see if my message was getting through. And that’s when the starting center, a team leader, broke the silence with a goofy imitation of me. He mimicked several of my phrases and the other players were a little nervous about what my reaction would be. I decided to laugh, so the whole team laughed along with me. These were boys who loved to have fun. Scripture says that there is a time for everything (Ec 3:1). There is certainly a time for discipline and teaching, but there are countless opportunities for fun and laughter too.
The word joy appears over two hundred times in the Bible, and the joy we find there is even greater than laughing and having fun. The joy written of in Scripture is supernatural, and it comes as a gift of God through his Spirit to all who belong to Him by Christ Jesus. Are you joyful? If you belong to Christ, then joy is God’s will for you.
1. Are you having fun with coaching?
2. Do your athletes ever feel permission to have fun while around you? How does having fun improve your relationships?
3. Are you approachable to your team? Would they speak to you about personal matters?
Extra Reading: Psalm 21:1; Mark 10:13–16; John 15:11; 1 John 3:18
Lord, I pray that You would take me back to my first love—You, Jesus. May I be reminded of the joy I knew in first receiving You and Your forgiveness. Lord, remind me also of my excitement when You first called me into coaching. Help me to have fun in carrying out my responsibilities with my athletes and fellow coaches so that all may be built up. Amen.
