A few days ago, I went out for a long training run. It wasn't a particularly pretty day, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to the run ahead of me. About four miles in, it started to drizzle. A mile later, it was raining. I found myself looking around realizing that I was the only one out there running in the weather. My mind started to harp on how miserable it was, how much longer I had to go, and how I could probably just take a shortcut and go home. Then I felt God speak to me.

Louis Garza moved into our neighborhood when he was in the sixth grade. He was big, strong, fast, . . . and humble. He was easily the best athlete in our whole group, and we had a lot of really good athletes. But Louis was different; he willingly did anything for the good of the team.

It’s always tough trying to fit into a new group, but Louis slipped into ours easily. He didn’t demand anything. As a matter of fact, Louis was so humble that he always tried to get his weaker teammates to experience the more glamorous positions. He wanted others to feel special and succeed.

Whether it’s grading films, evaluating staff, or being evaluated by a superior, we’re all familiar with some standard of measurement—systems by which we determine how things are going. God has a system too. His system is called the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20. If we have broken even one of these commandments, the Bible says we’re guilty of breaking them all (Jms 2:10).

Football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” That's so true. To be a winner you must make a commitment to sticking with a task and following through with it. We all want to be winners, but many things, including the many temptations to make bad choices, stand in our way. Those choices often keep potential winners on the sidelines.

Life is full of trade-offs. The bad choices you make today are the down payments on your problems tomorrow. It's all a part of living under God's law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:8).

In the movie Invincible, the story of Philadelphia Eagles fan-turned-NFL-pro Vince Papale plays out on the big screen. After losing his job and wife, he was told he would never amount to anything, that he wouldn’t make any money, and wasn’t going anywhere.

Some of us have experienced a coach saying, “You’re not talented enough. You won’t make it.” Possibly a coworker, spouse, friend, or parent has caused doubt.

In 1998, the Ohio State Buckeyes beat Northwestern 36–10, but personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct tainted the win. OSU’s coach at the time, John Cooper, made a point to his number-one ranked team, emphasizing that there is no place in football for trash talking and taunting and that it can be a distraction more than a help. Guard Rob Murphy said, “He got his point across.”

Discussing the numerous flags that were thrown during the game, Cooper demanded that the trash-talk behavior stop. Again Murphy said, “I agree. We need to play more and talk less.”

One day, the team was practicing when their coach had to leave for a minute. Once the coach was out of sight, the team started acting up and shooting half-court shots. Suddenly, out of nowhere they heard a voice say, ”I saw that.” One player made the comment, “Man, Coach must have eyes everywhere.” In sports, the eyes of a coach are always watching even when no one thinks they are looking.

Baseball is often a game of controlled failure. Failing 7 out of 10 times can be considered a success. Unfortunately, this isn’t the same in our relationships.

In a large local tournament, one of our top players chose to play with a stronger team—a choice he was allowed to make. I was glad for him because he made a decision and stuck with it. Some families were offended because they felt we could win the tournament if we had him with us.