Ready:
“The decrees you issue are righteous and altogether trustworthy.” – Psalm 119:138
Set:
What place, if any, does the Bible have in sports? Some might argue that the Bible is for the spiritual part of your life and is not relevant to sports. But if we have put our faith in Christ, we follow Him as Lord. Jesus is Lord over not just a “spiritual part” of our life. He’s Lord over all! He makes Himself and His design for us known through the Bible. God’s Word addresses every dimension of who we are and what we do, including as athletes or coaches.
To benefit from all God is speaking and doing through His Word, we must trust the Bible. Psalm 119 highlights what we repeatedly see in Scripture—that God’s Word is fully true and completely trustworthy. What Psalm 119:138 says is emphasized throughout the psalm: “I trust in your word” (v. 42), “all your commands are true” (vv. 86, 151), “your instruction is true” (v. 142). In His prayer for His disciples in John 17:17, Jesus says to His Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
The Bible is entirely true and trustworthy. All God speaks through His Word aligns with what is real. There is nothing false or inaccurate in what the Scriptures communicate. We can trust that the Bible tells us what is true about God, us, the world, the future, our deepest needs, what “the good life” is, how to be who we were created to be, and how to live in the way we were created to live. This means we look to and trust the Bible to direct every dimension of being an athlete or coach. We trust what God’s Word says about the purpose we should pursue in our sport and the character that should define us. We trust what the Bible teaches about how to lead well, how to be a great teammate, the right perspective on winning and losing, how to respond to adversity, and what constitutes true success.
The Bible is fully trustworthy. Trust what the Bible teaches when it feels challenging just as much as when it feels encouraging. Like the psalmist, be an athlete or coach who says to the Lord, “I trust in your word.”
Go:
What encourages you to fully trust the Bible?
As you trust what God says through His Word, what impact does this have on how you approach being an athlete or coach?
Workout:
Overtime:
“Lord, I praise You for Your Word. Thank You that the Bible is altogether trustworthy. I pray that I would fully trust what You speak to me through Your Word in every area of my life. Amen.”