Think about a coach you had who was fun, connective and positive. What did you enjoy about him or her? How did it help you in your practices and games? When we have a coach who sees us as people and not just a jersey, who understands there’s more to the game than the pressure to succeed, it gives us grace to have fun while we play. There is freedom and lightness in us knowing we won’t have mistakes held over us and that we don’t have to think too hard about how our coach will react to something we do.

There is even greater freedom in living out our lives in Christ, knowing God sees us with love and never holds anything against us. He is for you (Romans 8:31), He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11) and is always making a way for you in every circumstance (Isaiah 43:19).

We can feel crunched for time to get everything done: studies, work, friendships, sports, family, and already crammed schedules. Sometimes, we feel even more pressure to pack in our Bible reading, church and prayer time. But when we flip our focus to seeking God first, He frees us up to have time for all we need. The most important thing is to stay close to the Lord, love Him, and love others.

“When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’

He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.’” -Matthew 22:34-40

There is no pressure when we place everything in the Lord. He doesn’t expect us to behave a certain way or have a certain amount of successes or wins before we can make Him proud. When He looks at us, He sees the work of Jesus on the cross.

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.” -Ephesians 1:3-6

We don’t have to perform a certain way. Knowing who we are in Christ and living out of God’s unconditional and unchangeable love gives us peace that transcends all pressure we put on ourselves to keep up or perform. God’s love frees us, and when we know how loved we are as His son or daughter, we can play or coach from the overflow of how He made us.

Where the Lord is, there is freedom. And He is in all things as we live our lives.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” -2 Corinthians 3:17

The more time we spend with God, the more our heart and desires begin to shape like His. We seek goodness and mercy, look out for others in need and want to encourage one another and build each other up in His love. We begin to prioritize our time and align our priorities to put Him and His Kingdom first. You can breathe a deep sigh of relief. Everything else falls into place when we place our first fruits with Him.

-FCA-