From Being the Hero to Serving at Home

As a major league strength and conditioning coach, I was committed to excellence at my job. I poured my heart into helping the athletes reach their goals. I did my best to help them connect their training to a higher purpose and personal calling. I listened to athletes when they were struggling. Sometimes they faced injuries, performance slumps, or personal problems, and I encouraged them during those times. I offered prayer, scripture, and spiritual wisdom. I even organized a chapel for the players on Sundays.

But while I consumed myself with helping athletes at work, I failed to serve my own family at home.

We live in a performance-driven world that celebrates achievement, dominance, and success. Often, athletes and coaches display these qualities. Sports are a global language of competition, victory, and perseverance. Athletes and coaches are seen as heroes. And who doesn’t love a hero?

Being a coach meant I was in the spotlight. I was shown favoritism and adoration I didn’t necessarily earn. This attention can become a misguided sense of entitlement. We can get used to being served, forgetting that we are servants too.

Society may place people on pedestals. But God values character over celebrity and faithfulness over fame. Every person, regardless of their platform, is equally valuable in His eyes.

The most important place we can be servant leaders is at home. True victory is found in serving our families, our wives, our husbands, and our children. There will be a day when we don’t have a team to show up for anymore. But we can always show up at home with humility, love, and service.

Challenge:

• What does servant leadership look like in your home or job?
• How is the way the world values people shaping your personal opinions of them? How can you strip away these biases and see people the way God sees them?

Prayer:

"God, help me to trade pride for purpose. Show me how to lead, not through dominance, but through love and humility. Let my legacy be in how I served, not how I performed. Amen."