by Shannon Caughey

“If you’re standing still, you’re falling behind.” Have you used that statement (or something similar) with your athletes? There’s a lot of truth in what it communicates. When we stop taking steps to get better, we don’t just stay at our current level of skill or conditioning. We tend to regress, taking us further from where we want to be.

This is the case in life as well as in sports—especially when we’re committed to pursuing the life that glorifies Christ. That’s what we’re focusing on in this series of devotions: important characteristics that enable us to coach and live in more God-honoring ways, as seen in Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-12. Let’s continue unpacking vv. 9-10: “⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”

So far we’ve discussed these qualities of God-honoring coaches: they know God’s will, they have wisdom and understanding, and they produce good fruit. The second half of v. 10 points to another characteristic: God-honoring coaches grow in knowing God.

To “know” in the Bible includes both intellectual and relational dimensions. An accurate understanding of God is hugely important. We cannot grow closer to God without deepening our knowledge of who he is, his character, his will, his heart, his purposes, and his plans. To consistently pursue a greater understanding of God, keep returning to the means through which God makes himself known: his Word and his Son. God reveals himself in the Bible and ultimately in his Son Jesus Christ, “the Word [who] became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14). To “learn to know God better and better,” as Paul prays, spend regular—preferably daily—time reading God’s Word and looking more closely at Jesus.

Deepening intellectual understanding is not the end, however. The Lord desires that we live day by day in a real, personal relationship with him. This relational knowledge of God is often pictured in the Bible as “walking” with him. When we grow in knowing the Lord’s character, will, heart, and purposes, we deepen our relationship with him as this understanding dictates how we live in every area. We desire to reflect his character, follow his will, share his heart, and carry out his purposes. We want to be in lockstep with him. To learn to know God better and better, draw closer to him through walking with him.

Coach, as you grow in knowing the Lord, a couple of things will be true of you. You will increasingly “have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). More and more you will view people and situations from Christ’s perspective, including as you coach. You will know how Jesus would have you speak and act. As you grow in knowing the Lord, you will also increasingly “spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Your athletes, fellow coaches, and others who are around you will encounter Jesus through you. The impact of your coaching and life for the glory of Christ will multiply.

Don’t settle for “standing still” spiritually. Learn to know God better and better. God-honoring coaches keep praying for and pursuing growth in knowing the Lord.

For reflection: Ask God to grow you in knowing him better and better. Ask him to help you consistently seek him through his Word and walk with him day by day.