I’ve noticed that for athletes there is a very common belief: "I can't.”  Even little things like trying a new ball handling drill.  If the athlete has experienced failure with a similar drill or with that hand, he or she can often respond with the classic, "I can't" and stop pushing towards improvement. 

The irony of this “I can’t” is that God embraces our brokenness from our failures before Him because of our humility.  Read the Bible long enough and you’ll see there are many examples of tremendous leaders who followed God and brought others to Him who also failed often.

Take for example, Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples.  Peter urged Jesus he would never deny Him, yet he did so in Jesus' darkest hour (three times, just as Jesus predicted).   There’s also the time he fell asleep the night of Jesus' darkest hour when Jesus asked him to pray.  But Peter didn't wallow in the “I can’t” after that.  He ended up becoming one of the forerunners of the early Church and did incredible things for God and people.  The humility he had from his failures allowed him to yearn for and receive Christ's love and forgiveness for him and say, “I can.”

As athletes and coaches in and out of competition, another motivation then for us to lead and love comes from the love and forgiveness we continue to receive from God.  Our failures can actually become the motivation for our success in sport and as followers of Christ!