A Coach's Diary

Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden once wrote, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” You can talk a good game, but do you walk the walk? We can spend all our time and energy worrying about what others think of us, but never forget that character comes before reputation. Character is the foundation and frame of our house, and our reputation is the finished product people can see from the street. The stronger your foundation, the stronger you are. After the birth of Jesus, John the Baptist began preaching in the wilderness of Judea. After Jesus, John is probably the most important person in the Gospels. John was the Israelites' first prophetic voice in over 400 years, so he was the link between the Old and the New Testament. His message was to, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matthew 3:2),” he was called The Baptist because he baptized people who...

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30). I sometimes feel stress and anxiety from sports. It can be a lot of pressure having to compete every day, and that pressure can increase with success. Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said that years ago, his team started to have success but they would fall short in the playoffs, and that would bring him to a low point. He said that a conversation with his wife changed the way he coaches. Coach Corbin's wife said, "If you are going to live and die with your success based on the last game, you are going to die a miserable person. You are going to have to find other ways to value what you're doing as a coach." He needed to change the target by removing the scoreboard and winning. I need to change my TARGET. But what needs to be the TARGET? In Matthew 28:19, Jesus had returned from the grave and was spending His final days with His disciples when He said, " Go therefore...