by Shannon Caughey

Every coach wants their athletes to say about them, “I trust Coach because he/she always follows through on what he/she said. If Coach makes a promise, I know he/she will fulfill that promise.” This is the quality of faithfulness.Faithfulness is essential for building the type of trust with your athletes that enables you to lead them well and impact their lives.

Throughout the Bible, God is described as faithful. We’ve been looking at attributes of the Lord that give us abundant reasons for trusting him. We’re wrapping up the series by considering his faithfulness. Deuteronomy 7:9 gives this assurance: “Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands.” The psalmist in Psalm 36:5 praises God, saying, “Lord, your faithful love reaches to heaven, your faithfulness to the clouds.” Theologian Wayne Grudem defines the Lord’s faithfulness in this way: “God’s faithfulness means that God will always do what he has said and fulfill what he has promised.”

The connection between the Lord’s faithfulness and his trustworthiness is pretty obvious. Let’s think about a few ways trusting our faithful God gets worked out in our life. First, we can trust all that God says. We can put our confidence wholly in God’s Word. The Bible is the Lord speaking to us, revealing who he is and his heart for us and for our world. His words are true, and he is faithful to all he promises. That’s why we look to God’s Word as the authority over every dimension of our life, including how we coach. Hebrews 10:23 encourages us, “Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.”

Second, we can trust that God forgives us when we sin. Our sin creates a barrier between us and the holy God. If our sin is not dealt with, we remain separated from God with no chance of experiencing a loving, life-giving relationship with him. But through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, God made a way for our sins to be forgiven so our relationship with him can be restored. Our role is to turn to the Lord in faith, confessing our sin to him so that his solution for sin is applied to us. We hold fast to 1 John 1:9, which promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Here’s one more way trusting our faithful God impacts us: we can trust God’s work to transform us into the likeness of Christ. Not only does the Lord forgive our sin, he faithfully changes us and grows us through our relationship with him. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.” To “sanctify” means to make holy—to be transformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus. As a coach and in other areas, we often feel like we’re up and down regarding how well we’re honoring the Lord. Yet we can be confident that he is faithfully carrying out his work to transform us. We’re encouraged by the truth of Philippians 1:6—“I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Why trust God? Because he is loving, he is all-powerful, he is sovereign, he is holy, he is good, he is just, he is merciful and gracious, he is wise, and he is faithful. The Lord will always do what he has said and fulfill what he has promised

For reflection: Take some time to praise God for his faithfulness. Renew your trust in him because he will fulfill his Word.