“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me His prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” — 2 Timothy 1: 7-8
Don’t Be Timid
Many of the best athletes in sports today played at colleges without high-profile programs known for producing pros. Antonio Brown (Central Michigan), Adam Thielen (Minnesota State) and Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) come to mind in football. Basketball examples include Damion Lillard (Weber State) and Steph Curry (Davidson). Even though they weren’t recruited by traditional powers, they continued to trust in their abilities and kept working to improve their game.
These players, and plenty of others in similar situations, refused to let the disadvantages that come with going to smaller schools prevent them from pursuing professional careers. At some point, they were given a chance to show what they were capable of. When the opportunity came, they proved they could play with the best of the best and belonged at the highest level sports can offer.
Even though we don’t have the answer to every question and may not feel qualified, God calls us to be bold in our faith. He sent the Holy Spirit so we can share our testimony and spread God’s love fearlessly. God offers hope and eternal life to everyone — that’s a huge deal!
With the Holy Spirit’s help, we don’t have to be ashamed or timid when talking about what the Lord has done.
— Joshua Doering
If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@sportsspectrum.com.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
“For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation.” — 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NLT)
Aroldis Chapman throws a fastball that’s consistently clocked at more than 103 mph for the Boston Red Sox. The ball goes from the pitcher’s mound to the plate so fast that most batters struggle to swing quickly enough to make contact. Many hitters strike out within three to five pitches when Chapman is on the mound.
In most cases, major league pitchers have to be able to throw a fastball at least 90 mph and also have the ability to throw off-speed pitches to keep the hitters off balance. Pitchers regularly work on their flexibility, strength and stamina to try to stay ahead of the hitters.
We admire the urgency of hard-throwing pitchers, fielders and hitters with quick hands, and speedy outfielders and base runners. But we tend to be the opposite when it comes to sharing the Gospel. If we want to please God, we need to increase our enthusiasm for bringing the Good News to others.
In the Scriptures, we’re often reminded about the urgency of getting the Gospel message from one person to another through personal encounters. Even though it’s helpful to share the truth through social media, texts, emails and phone calls, a deeper impression is made when we look somebody in the eye and speak specifically about our relationship with God.
The Bible says, “Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation,” (2 Corinthians 6:2b, NLT) to emphasize the importance of coming to Christ immediately if we haven’t already, because we don’t know how much time we’ll have to make that decision. Some people live to be 90 but others don’t make it to old age, so we must think about eternity right now.
As soon as Paul met Christ on the road to Damascus, his priorities changed. He no longer lived for himself and his agenda. From that day forward, he urged people to believe in Christ without waiting: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20b).
Christ and the apostles were motivated by their love for lost souls and also their understanding that every person has a deadline. The criminal on the cross may have known when he was dying and got right with God, but most of us don’t know when we will die. Since the apostles’ hearts overflowed with God’s love, they moved fast to get to people to speak about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
Even when Paul was a prisoner, he didn’t focus on escaping. Instead, he kept on telling others about Jesus just as he did when he walked freely. As Paul stood before the ruler Agrippa, he pleaded with him to consider the condition of his eternal soul. “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘Short time or long — I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains'” (Acts 26:28-29).
We need to feel an urgency to share what we know about Jesus, for eternities hang in the balance. You never know if you’ll see tomorrow, so make sure you are right with the Lord and share with those around you so that they may hear the best news of their lives.
— Bill Kent, Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, Sylvania, Georgia
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST WITH MATT FORTE, FEATURING ROBERT MATHIS
Robert Mathis spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts (2003-16) and is the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks (123). He was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2021, and won Super Bowl XLI with the team in 2006-07. He retired as the NFL’s career record holder in forced fumbles (52).
Matt Forte welcomes Robert Mathis to the Sports Spectrum Podcast to talk about his journey of faith in Christ, the worst year of his life in 2014, the power of prayer, his favorite quarterback to sack, and the Colts’ culture.
Robert Mathis, who spent all of his 14 seasons with the @Colts and was part of the Super Bowl XLI winning squad, is now a Semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025. #PFHOF25pic.twitter.com/CErpQyajCL
Ilia Malinin. He’s known to the world as the Quad God: the first male figure skater in history to master and land all six types of quadruple jumps, the first to ever land the elite quadruple axel jump in competition (4.5 revolutions in the air), and the first to ever land seven quad jumps in a single program. He holds many scoring world records and has elevated his sport to heights never seen. Many are already saying that, by the end of his career, he will go down as likely the greatest male figure skater of all time.
The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics were supposed to be his crowning moment. Nobody had been able to beat him in more than two years. While he did walk away with a gold medal in the team competition, the individual event shockingly didn’t turn out that way. Literally moments away from hearing his national anthem, he had a disastrous skate in the men’s long program and finished in eighth place.
The world was surprised at how well Malinin handled the moments that followed, yet his relationship with failure was born long before the Olympics happened. He says there have been two guiding principles by which he has dealt with disappointment:
1. You don’t get better by never falling. In his disastrous free skate at the Olympics, Malinin had multiple falls — extremely uncharacteristic mistakes for a skater of his caliber. And yet, he was quick to point out that falls are part of the journey, especially in the sport of figure skating, and improvement doesn’t come by being scared of tumbling to the ice. Falling is part of the process, and you must accept that in order to improve.
Sometimes it’s easy to think that the Christian life is supposed to be this steady, upward climb. We’ve somehow put in this idea that we’re supposed to be perfect and never fall. But the Bible doesn’t promise us that. Rather, it promises that, even if we stumble, God will hold our hand and help us back up.
2. God’s sovereignty is what gives purpose to even our falls. In an interview shortly after his epic collapse, Malinin told NBC, “I always say that everything happens for a reason. God puts things there the way He wants it, and I’m always taking that for granted and knowing that there’s always something that has to be done.” This philosophy was on display in the exhibition gala that followed the end of figure skating competition as Malinin chose to skate to Christian singer NF’s song “Fear,” and the world was hushed in a special moment on the ice.
There’s a peace that comes from knowing that even our most disastrous mistakes and failures can and will be used by God for good. We can be confident in knowing that He’s in control of everything that happens. He knows ahead of time how things will turn out, and nothing will take place outside of His plan.
Our falls might not take place with a global audience watching as happened for Ilia Malinin. Most likely, they will happen when few are watching except for God. But no matter how or when they happen, the fact that God will catch you no matter what, and still use your stumbles for His glory and your good, can free you up to not be scared of failure, but to welcome it when it shows up.
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs makes a catch during the school's Pro Day in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs has spent the past two seasons building one of the most decorated résumés in college football. Now, he’s on the verge of hearing his name called early in the NFL Draft — potentially within the first five picks.
He was named the winner of the 2025 Jim Thorpe Award — given annually to the nation’s top defensive back — and a finalist for both the Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik Awards, each honoring the nation’s best defensive player. Downs was also a two-time consensus first-team All-American and a key member of the Buckeyes’ 2024-25 national championship team and Big Ten runner-up squad in 2025-26. Furthermore, he was given the Big Ten’s Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year honor and, for the second straight season, the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year award.
His impact extended beyond the field as well, earning the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which recognizes performance, leadership, character and community involvement, and he was nominated as Ohio State’s candidate for the 2025-26 Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award.
“I have spent 11 years coaching in the NFL and Caleb Downs is the best football player — pro or college — that I have ever coached,” Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Tim Walton said. “He is first-class and exceptional in all areas he touches.”
That combination of production, football IQ and consistency has made Downs one of the most highly regarded prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft. Multiple outlets project him as a top-10 pick, with ESPN and The Athletic placing him as high as No. 5 overall to the New York Giants.
“Downs would be the first safety taken in the top five since Eric Berry went to the Chiefs in 2010, and he’d be worth it,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. wrote.
But Downs is more than just a football player. And he’s not shy in talking about what’s most important to him.
“There’s two things that are more important than me, more important than me playing football,” Downs told “The Walk” podcast in August as to why he wears No. 2. “My faith in Jesus Christ and my family. So those two things is what I wear on my chest every game and those are the two most important things in my life.”
His faith has been central not only to his personal life, but also to his platform at Ohio State. In 2024, several football players helped lead a worship gathering on campus that featured worship music, player testimonies and baptisms. When the event returned in 2025 — drawing an estimated 2,000 attendees, nearly double the previous year — Downs was among the players who spoke to the crowd.
“No play we make on the field — no touchdown, no interception — can compare to the Kingdom of God,” Downs said.
Speaking afterward, he emphasized where he believes true credit belongs.
“God is good,” Downs told local television station ABC 6. “I mean, I can’t take credit for it. None of my teammates can take credit for it. At the end of the day, His glory is above anything that we can do, but we know Jesus is real and we know that if you believe in Him, you will be saved.”
That message has also shaped how Downs talks about faith publicly. On “The Walk” podcast, he talked about the hesitation many feel about coming to Christ.
“Some people say, ‘I’m not ready to be baptized. I’m not ready to come to Jesus,'” he said. “But the realization is that Jesus is for the people that are sick. Jesus is for the people that aren’t perfect. You’re never going to be perfect enough to come to Jesus. That’s the point.”
He continued later: “Whenever you surrender to Him, that’s when everything will be washed away and you will be made renewed in Him. The faster that you can come to Him and run to Him and totally surrender your heart and your mind to Him, that’s the better off you’re going to be.
“There’s no amount of good behavior that you can do that will allow you to feel like you’re righteous enough to come to Him, because you never will be. It’s just a realization that He is what makes you righteous. He’s what makes you perfect.”
Downs, after just three collegiate seasons, officially declared for the NFL Draft on Jan. 7 and made sure to point his gratitude to God with a post on Instagram.
“Everything I’ve been able to achieve starts with my faith,” he wrote. “I’m grateful to God for the direction, strength, and purpose He’s given me. And I will continue to glorify, honor, and praise Him throughout this journey.”
The NFL Draft goes from April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
