The Foundation
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” - Matthew 7:24-27
The sports world says that winning more games, moving up the coaching ladder, moving up the pay scale, essentially what you DO is more important than WHO you are. That is completely backwards! God says, “Coach, WHO you are is more important than what you DO.”
God is far more concerned about your character than he is your career. Some of you might be thinking, “Thank goodness!” Now, God still cares about your career, but He’s more concerned about who you are.
God didn’t wire us to build our identity, our foundation, and who we are, on things that shake and sway. On things like our careers, winning and losing, the size of school you coach at, how many of your athletes go to the next level, etc. Under enough pressure, these things will sway and eventually they will crumble. Now, these things aren’t bad, in fact most of these things are good. But at the end of the day, they cannot hold up to the pressure that you face as a coach, as a human. They weren’t designed for that and we as humans were not designed to build our foundation on them.
In this story, both houses got the storm. One collapsed and the other didn’t. What was the difference? The foundation. One had sand and the other rock.
So, what is the foundation? The passage starts by saying, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”
Following the Teachings of Jesus is the Foundation.
Who you are has everything to do with who your foundation is built on. Is it built on you and what you do? Don’t be like the foolish person who built their house on sand, their career, winning and losing… because the storms will come! Build your house on the sure foundation, the bedrock… Jesus.
Here are three simple action steps to help you start following the teachings of Jesus.
- Start Reading the Bible - Jesus’ teachings are all throughout the Bible.
- Find a Mentor - Mentors help other people follow the teachings of Jesus.
- Join a Huddle - Coaches Huddles are small groups of coaches who study the teachings of Jesus together.
These three things will help you work on who you are becoming and who your foundation is built on. WHO you are is far more important that what you DO.
- Name one way in which you’ve built your foundation solely on coaching or what you do.
- What intimidates you about following the teachings of Jesus and building your foundation on Him and why?
- Of the three action steps, which one do you need to take and when will you do it?
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17
- Philippians 4:9
- Hebrews 10:24-25
