SUM 11: Day 34

Proverbs 12:24 & Romans 12:8

How should I lead? Lead enthusiastically! When I was in seminary, I happened upon my dream job. For three years, I coached a high school basketball team at a small Christian high school. The fi rst day of practice, I was so excited. My team was small, weak, slow and without any athletic ability, but, man, we had heart. (That’s what a coach says when he knows his team isn’t good.) The school was so small that our varsity team was the only team, and we had four freshmen on it, including our starting point guard. We were doomed. As the season went on, I had so much fun getting to know my players and working with them; however, no matter how hard we practiced, we could not win. We were bad.

As the season was winding down, I had circled one specific game on my calendar. The team was almost as bad as we were. I thought if I scouted them hard and drilled a few
specifi c plays into the brains of my kids, we could pull off the upset. The day of the game, I gave the best pre-game speech ever. (Maybe an overstatement.) We went out there and played so hard but got our tails kicked by 15. My fi rst year as coach
gave us our record of 0-18. We stunk.

I still keep up with those kids and many of them have kids of their own. They have grown up to love Jesus. Awhile back, one of them contacted me and told me how my involvement in his life had helped him to become a Christian. Even though the immediate goal (winning) was never reached, the greater goal was. When we lead, we build into others with the goal of making them better. I tried to do that both on the court and in their lives. BTW, three years later we finished undefeated. Booyah!!!

Pray: God, is there some way I can use my gifts and abilities in
leadership to make Your name great?

Do: Find a place to use your gifts and passions and invest in someone else.