True Competitor: 7 Days of Spiritual GritSample

THE LOVE WIN

True Competitor Principle

Coaches love their players; players love each other.

On June 26, 2010, thousands gathered at a memorial service to honor the life of legendary coach John Wooden. He lived well for ninety-nine full years, died well, and understood his eternal destiny. He once said, “There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Saviour.”

In 2009, Sporting News made a list of the fifty greatest coaches of all time, which they updated in 2016. It must have been an incredible challenge to narrow it down to fifty and nearly impossible to select the number one coach. But Coach Wooden’s name easily rose to the top. Why Wooden? Maybe it was because he’d won ten NCAA national championships at UCLA. Maybe it was because he was the coach that all the other coaches looked to as the benchmark of success. But I believe it was because of the heart of the man.

Wooden’s purpose in coaching was to make his team not only better players but also better people. He was committed to teaching, inspiring, and motivating people, and he empowered his players to be the best men they could be. Wooden believed coaching should have a lasting impact that develops and instills habits and practices for life. Coach Wooden found greatness in loving his players.

His coaching was marked with love and best reflected by these words: “We can give without loving, but we can’t love without giving. In fact, love is nothing unless we give it to someone.”

Coach Wooden knew his number one job was to love his players unconditionally. Love isn’t usually included in most coaching job descriptions, but Bobby Dodd, former football coach at Georgia Tech, once said, “Either love your players or get out of coaching.” When Joe Ehrmann, former NFL player for the Baltimore Colts, was coaching the Gilman High School football team, he would tell the players that it was the job of the coaches to love the players and the job of the players to love each other.

That’s the love win. It’s a powerful principle that can transform a team—and possibly the sports world! It’s the missing ingredient.

When coaches love their players, they demonstrate it in the way they teach, the way they correct, and the way they push. Coaches who love their players don’t shame them in front of their teammates. They don’t condemn publicly and tear down; they confront privately and build up. They care about what’s going on in the classroom and at home. They work to understand the pressures their players are feeling off the field as well. They serve their players and step in to help in whatever way they can because they are tuned in to the needs and hurts of their players. They’re intentional about modeling and building specific character qualities into the hearts of their players—integrity, perseverance, consistency, teamwork, and forgiveness.

If coaches would coach their players the way Jesus loved His disciples, sports would be instantly impacted.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12–13, 17)

The world of sports can be redeemed through transformed coaches and athletes. Imagine what would happen if every coach followed the love win and could say, “My goal is to love my players.” Once coaches set the standard by loving their players, the players’ number one job is to love their teammates. When they create a culture of love, it replaces distrust, bitterness, envy, anger, and jealousy. Paul defined the love win for players in this way:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)

Players love each other by speaking words of encouragement. They believe the best in each other. They get excited when their teammates succeed and celebrate with them. They pick each other up when they are down and don’t blame each other for mistakes. Instead of complaining about a lack of playing time, they continue to work hard, and everyone takes responsibility for their own effort. Love shuts down all negative and behind-the-scenes “locker room” talk that divides and discourages.

Love is the one thing that gets people’s attention—especially when it’s displayed in the arena of competition. It is a glimpse of the kingdom of God here on earth. Putting love into action is a picture of Jesus. When coaches love their players and players love each other, they are becoming more like Jesus. All relationships on a team must be rooted in love. If we make the love win our goal, we can show the world that sports can be different. Let the competition to live the love win begin!

Lord, I love You, and that is much easier than loving people. It’s difficult to love people because they let me down and disappoint me. But I ask You to give me a heart of love so that I will love unconditionally. I desire the love win in my life. Help me love other competitors with all my strength. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.