"She leads them by sacrificially loving and serving them with her whole heart" (Proverbs 31:15).
As a coach, I had always believed that I was the master and my athletes were to be in service to me. God, however, had other ideas and He turned my coaching paradigm upside down.
As He broke down the hardened walls of my me-first model, He began to replace it with His servant-leader model. I thought to myself, "I've lost my mind; no athlete is going to respond to this. They won't follow me if I show humility, love, kindness... weakness."
As I was looking for biblical inspiration to renew my entrenched mind and encourage my fearful heart, I came across this verse in my daughter's Bible, The Message: REMIX edition, Proverbs 16:16, "Good-tempered leaders invigorate lives; they're like spring rain and sunshine."
Boom! This verse became my rally cry, my foundation and my training ground for becoming the servant leader that God was calling me to be. I was meant to invigorate the lives of girls through my coaching.
As I began to intentionally look for ways to build up my players through my good-tempered servant leadership, my new-found meekness was not seen as weakness but as measured strength. My fears were unfounded. My players did not turn on me or take advantage of me. Instead, they began to flourish under my gentle, Spirit-led watering and warm-hearted leadership.
Prayer
Lord, keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, the perfect model of servant leadership, and break through any walls I've built around my coaching kingdom, so I can point others to Your eternal kingdom
