Wooden's Counsel

"God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love. ... He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back for our wrongs." Psalm 103:8

February 4

John Wooden was the 'winningest' basketball coach in the history of the game at the college level. He was noted for his ability to hone the innate ability of young men and to transform their individual raw skill into the ability to be a cohesive, winning team. He believed in his players and he inspired them to believe in themselves. Wooden's counsel to his teams through the years and to us stands: "Don't allow what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do." In a way, that's what God says to us.

Each of us has our strengths and our weaknesses and He makes it His priority to mold and shape us into individuals who can--either on our own or working in concert with others--be champions at the game of life. He has given each of us a skill set that He empowers us to use to affect the goals and plans He has for each of us. His Word reminds us that we may falter at times, but we should not be deterred by our temporary set-backs--we can't let them interfere with our progress toward our goal of living a godly, blessed life.


Further, each believer has a standard of excellence that transcends the business or professional realm. He carries his qualifications into the sphere of the spirit and he uses them to improve not only every circumstance and every challenge he faces in his day-to-day endeavors, but also to introduce every person whose life touches his to the Christ in whom he trusts. The people he encounters professionally are advantaged by his integrity. Those in his circle of friends are benefited because of the counsel he affords to them in their time of need. His precious children are blessed for time and eternity because he is devoted to their nurture in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord according to Ephesians 6:4.


None of us is capable on our own to set the world on fire. We know we require HIS help and HIS guidance to bring us from the point where we are to the pinnacle of achievement that He has ordained us to reach. We must know our limitations; yet, we must know as well that those limitations cannot impede our progress toward the height of success that the Lord has for us. We cannot diminish the God-factor in our potential. We must know as Paul did that, "When I am weak, then I am strong, for the strength of Christ is perfected in weakness,” II Corinthians 12:10.

If a person never felt failure nipping at his heels, if he never anguished over the prospect of watching all his best effort come to nothing, he would have no reason to turn toward Jesus. The bottom line of life is that turning to Him is the only thing anyone ever does that impacts his life eternally. Our God is all about the eternal. As Philippians 2:5-12 tells us, "Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took on the form of a servant...wherefore, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that is above every name so at His name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God...therefore, work out your salvation."

Jesus cares about nothing but the salvation of the souls of men. He turned His back on His deity in order to bring salvation to mankind. No matter what 'hand' a man has been dealt in life, no matter what limitations challenge him or what skill set he has that enables him to gain victory over the challenges of life, apart from the appropriation to himself of the gift of salvation, he is a pauper in the eternal scheme of things—a loser—and his Savior does not want him to be a beggar before Him. It is His desire that he use the faith, the hope, the truth, the light, the honor, the awards--every good thing that makes up his being--to grow in Christ and to shed the love of Jesus upon those around him. Just as the Lord used His holiness to make us holy, so He desire that we use the entirety of who we are to further His Kingdom's purposes. Nothing else in life matters nearly as much as this one thing.