“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:18-19a
>> Sign up here for Sports Spectrum devotionals sent right to your email inbox <<
Have you ever thought about if you could live your life all over again? What would you do differently? I started coaching college soccer in 1974. Now 50 years later and semi-retired from being a high school athletic director and coach, I still get asked, “If you had the opportunity to live your life over, would you still want to be a coach? And if so, what would you change if anything at all?”
This is a great question. If you truthfully analyze your past life, I would imagine you would change a few things you did or didn’t do.
At the age of 71, I can’t help but think back on what coaching might have been like if I had the wisdom and knowledge about kids, young people and parents that I have today. (If you are close to my age and are still in the game, don’t beat yourself up about what kind of a coach you were 10, 20, 30 or 50 years ago. Sports have changed dramatically through the years; due to the internet, we have so much more information than we could have imagined back then.) If you are coaching, you need to ask yourself, are you on board with new concepts and ideas? Are you a different coach today than you were in the past?
I sure hope so! What was in our past is in our past. How you treated your athletes 30 years ago is in the past; how you treated parents is in the past; how you treated officials is in the past. If we are being truthful, digging up the past may bring up embarrassment, hurt, disgust and hurt feelings. Guilt and shame can creep in and ruin your day.
When the question I shared earlier comes up, my response is, “Yes, there are more than a few things I wish I did not do, and thank the Lord I don’t do those things any more.” Sure, as I matured in the knowledge of the sports I have coached and have grown tremendously in my people skills, I look back and wish I would have treated my athletes with more Christlike love and respect. I wish I would have given the officials more respect and more thank-yous — they have a tough job; it’s hard to please everyone. I wish I had more patience with the parents; they love their sons and daughters and don’t always see them as they truly are as athletes. I could go on and on if I wanted to stay in the dumps, but here is the good news: The past does not define me, or you, in the future unless we allow it to.
If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to ask Him into your life today, to forgive your past and set your sights on a future He has planned for you. Fortunately for me, more than 25 years ago I completely changed my coaching style and brought Jesus onto my teams. My priorities changed, my athletes became the focus, the parents became my allies, and the culture of my teams changed forever. Our play and sportsmanship improved, officials noticed it, parents noticed it, my family noticed it, and my athletes bought into it. My identity is in Christ and my life has been redefined. The old is gone and new is here!
Yes, you can change your style of coaching (or playing or parenting) — God’s grace proves it. Bring Christ into your program and watch Him redefine you.
— Jan Hethcock
>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him <<
>> Purchase “The Increase 52 Week Devotional” to further grow your relationship with Christ <<
>> Dive more into God’s Word with Sports Spectrum through the YouVersion Bible App <<
If you would like to submit a devotional, please email all submissions to
devotionals@sportsspectrum.com
