Athletes today live in a “me first” society. Many like to be served, not serve. Some professional athletes lead the way on “me first!” Yet, we hear stories of some who put others in front of themselves. Jason is one of those athletes. He has learned the art of “you before me.”

Paul teaches us that we can be very selfish. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul explained that others are more important than ourselves. This is not to put us down, but to lift the needs of others higher. A dear evangelist friend of mine, Aidan McKenzie, once said, “If there are two people in the room and you are one of them, guess who is more important? It’s not you.” That is something good to live by.

It appears that the sports world has been overtaken with the “somebody-owes-me-something-because-I-am-somebody” attitude. The big 10-dollar word for that attitude is “entitlement.” It is the belief that we deserve some reward or benefit because of who we are. Somehow we think everyone owes us, and that we owe nothing in return. If you watch SportsCenter, it sometimes sounds more like CrimeCenter. So many athletes think they can do anything they want—that they are above the law.

As a coach, my faith was wavering. I watched my unpredictable punter jog onto the field, doubt washed over me with every step. I never knew what to expect. It might go 40 yards in a tight spiral, or it could be a 10-yard shank off the side of his foot. Every kick was an unpredictable adventure.

It was late in the game and field position was critical as my team lined up in punt formation. As the punter waited for the snap from center, the unexpected happened. The gentle breeze that had been blowing all night suddenly transformed into a stiff wind. My punter handled the snap cleanly, took two steps and kicked the ball high into the air.

Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden once said, “A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example. There is hypocrisy to the phrase ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ I refused to make demands on my boys that I wasn’t willing to live out in my own life.”

Too often as athletes and coaches, we desire to live a life we know we cannot live. What I mean is that we desire for our external life (the life everyone sees—wins and accomplishments) to be greater than our internal life (our thoughts and desires).

She was a cute and happy kindergartener in the very first PE class I taught in 1987. I knew she would grow up to be quite a young lady. Seventeen years later, Kristen is a senior playing basketball for a Christian college in Indiana. Coming off an outstanding high school career, Kristen has had a hard time finding success at the next level in most people's eyes. You will not find a harder worker or a more disciplined ball player than this young lady, but for some reason her number is not called too many times. Many players in her situation would have quit by now, but not Kristen.