Psalm 37 was written for competitive people. It will help any athlete stay focused on the big picture and release them to perform better. There is a fine line between being worried and prepared; but to “fret” will only weaken us. Fretting is a warning that we want our own way more than God’s. It has been a custom around the world for years to rattle off the Lord’s Prayer before competition. Do the athletes really mean, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” or “my kingdom come, my will be done”?

My wife coached with the Houston Comets when they were crowned the first WNBA champions. When most people see her championship ring, very few think about what it took to obtain it. The Comets won it all because that team consisted of true champions.

A champion is by definition an ardent defender or supporter of a cause or another person; one who fights; a mighty warrior. In the case of Goliath, it literally means the man between the two, denoting the position he held between the quarreling camps. From this vantage point, we’re given a very clear indication of what a true champion is: one who willingly steps up when it’s time to do battle.

Chris Tidland is a very good golfer. However, for six straight years he missed the final cut in q-school by a couple of strokes. In 2005, it came down to the final hole, and he missed it by one stroke. Many athletes would stop trying after all those years, but knowing Chris, he would never give up. The following year, Tidland again found himself in the top 30 players on the leaderboard in the final round. Only the final 30 would advance to the PGA Tour the next season. Would he finish strong and get an early Christmas present?

The NCAA men's basketball tournament breeds controversy and cries of injustice. There are always teams who feel they deserve an at-large bid to the tournament and have their hopes crushed by the selection committee. The 2004 tournament selection was no different. Texas-El Paso snuck in with a 19-13 record, while Utah State, ranked No. 22 in the country with a 25-3 record, got snubbed. Then there are others who made it in, but feel they did not get the seed they deserved. Mama always told me, "Life isn't fair."

Our lives are so much bigger than what we can or cannot do on the playing field. Sometimes people think that the star athlete will be the best leader because of their athleticism. Or we think, Wow, if that person were a Christian they would have so much impact because they’re so popular and athletic.

The man who wrote 1 Peter 1:24 had an eternal impact even though he was what some would call a “spiritual scrub” or a “spiritual walk-on.” Peter was not the most popular, well- educated, or most athletic disciple. (Notice in the Book of John how he lost in a foot race with John to Jesus’ tomb.)

Several years ago when Bobby Dodd was the coach at Georgia Tech, Tech was beating Alabama by five points with only seconds remaining in the game. The coach told the quarterback to fall on the ball, but instead, he dropped back to pass. The pass was intercepted by an Alabama defensive back who was very fast. He got by everyone, but the quarterback chased him down from behind to tackle him. Tech won the game. Afterward, Coach Dodd was asked how the slow quarterback outran the fast defensive back. Coach said, “The defensive back was running for a touchdown, but the quarterback was running for his life.”