The Scoreboard
Somebody has to end this streak.
It’s not going to end itself. It’s not going to end because you’ve suffered enough. It’s not going to end because the other team takes it easy on you.
It ends when this team decides it ends.
Read this passage slowly.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Philippians 4:13 is one of the most quoted and most misunderstood verses in sports. It’s not a guarantee of victory. Paul wasn’t writing it from a position of winning everything. He was writing it from prison, having learned something about contentment and strength in every situation.
The strength he’s talking about is not the strength to always win. It’s the strength to keep going. To compete fully in every situation. To not let circumstances — including a losing streak — determine your effort or your character.
Through him who gives me strength. That’s the source. Not your own reserves, which are depleted right now. A strength that comes from outside of your current circumstances.
The streak ends when you step onto that floor or that field and compete with everything you have, regardless of what the last three games said. The decision to do that is available right now. It’s the only decision that matters in the next two hours.
Make it.
The decision to compete with everything you have is available right now.
One word. What does this team need to bring onto the floor tonight that we haven’t brought in the last few games?
Quick round. One word each. Gets the room present and decisive before game time.
Through him who gives strength. The streak ends tonight.
This is a pre-game devotional. Keep it to 8–10 minutes. The room needs to compete.
Don’t frame this as “we’re going to win tonight.” Frame it as “we’re going to compete with everything we have.” That’s the decision that’s in their control.