A Coach's Diary

Sports and life include challenges and setbacks. No matter what your goals are, adversity should be an expectation and not a surprise. Some of those struggles and challenges are the people who we play with and compete against. It would be great if everyone we play with and against were great to us, supportive, and displayed amazing sportsmanship, but opponents, and even some teammates, can be mean, rude, cruel, and ugly. It is important to learn how to deal with difficult people in a positive way, and it is equally important to have enough courage and confidence to keep going when adversity comes. As followers of Jesus, we have even more challenges because we have higher standards that we are called to live up to. Early in the book of Matthew, Jesus taught his disciples a series of blessings called The Beatitudes during his famous Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount was given early in his ministry. Jesus began preaching when he heard that John the Baptist, the preacher in t...