Principles of Coaching #5 - Live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ by exhibiting love, discipline, grace, and forgiveness (Bot9 #309)
James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” We have to live the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not just read it. I’m yet to find a situation or scenario that the Word of God and teachings of Jesus Christ doesn’t address, and that includes the baseball field. Now, the Bible is a rather large book and has many components. Where do you begin aligning your actions with His teachings?
As I outlined in my first book, Well Coached - A Coach’s Journey, a great place to begin is in your one-on-one relationships with people (as a brief aside: if you want a measure of accountability, write a book. Everyone who reads to book is ready and willing to tell you how you’re falling short of the standard you wrote about!). Our life is a set of individual relationships and we have to monitor each one of them with care. Jesus gives us an outline, which I represent symbolically through four infield positions.
Love as you’ve been loved - Because God has loved us as He has, we are called to love God and love others. For those of us in sports, we often times get caught loving our sport more than God and our teammates. We had the chaplain for the Denver Broncos speak to some student-athletes this week and he reminded us to not idolize our sports. When we do, our priorities get out of whack. Love God through your sport. Love others through your sport. Never love your sport more than God and people. Love God they way He’s loved us - with a focus and priority of Him above all things.
Discipline as you’ve been disciplined - I find discipline to be tricky and nuanced. We need to be willing to accept discipline from the Father, which is often done with a very gentle touch. Yet we often discipline others with a harsh, if not angry, tone. Then, when it comes to self-discipline, we often get wrapped up in our own ability to discipline ourselves without acknowledging it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. There’s a lot to digest in both of those ideas. Here’s what I continue to find to be true - people need boundaries. Those borders become helpful for people to find God’s best and not just good enough for their lives.
Give Grace the way you’ve received grace - My favorite definition of grace is “unmerited favor.” It means giving us something we don’t deserve. God heaps grace on us through the presence of Jesus Christ in world history and the unleashing of the Holy Spirit after his ascension. We didn’t deserve the sacrifice of Jesus to build a bridge to the Creator, and we certainly didn’t deserve the opportunity to have the Holy Spirit dwell in all of us. Is your life marked by this level of generosity towards others? Do you do things for people that they don’t deserve? Challenge yourself in this way this week.
Forgive as you’ve been forgiven - I continue to find this to be the hardest thing for people to do, including myself. It’s so clearly outlined in the Scriptures, but it’s absolutely counter to our flesh. We want to hold on to grudges. Jesus gives the story of the Unforgiving Debtor as one example and also includes this line in what we refer to as The Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In those seasons when you do this well, you are richly blessed. Forgive a grudge this week and experience that blessing.
The challenge becomes taking that filter of our thoughts and turning it into actions. Ultimately, when we do this well, people are drawn to Jesus through us. We have to continue to try to live the Gospel as much as we speak it!