Running the Race of Life: Embracing Faith as Your Coach

“Follow your heart” might be one of the most popular pieces of advice we give people, and from a biblical standpoint, it’s also some of the worst. We hear it everywhere. Trust yourself. Chase what feels right. Do what makes you happy. Listen to your heart. As a coach, I understand why that message connects with athletes because competitive people are taught to trust their instincts, believe in themselves, chase big goals, and refuse to let other people determine what they’re capable of. There’s nothing wrong with confidence, ambition, or passion, but Christianity never teaches us that our feelings should have the final authority over our decisions. In fact, Scripture repeatedly warns us about exactly that.

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

That doesn’t leave much room for turning the human heart into a compass.

Biblically, the heart represents much more than emotion. It includes our desires, thoughts, intentions, and will, and Scripture teaches that sin affects all of it. That means I can deeply want something and still be wrong. I can feel completely justified and still be wrong. I can convince myself that something is good because it benefits me, protects my pride, advances my career, gives me attention, or gets me closer to something I desperately want, and none of those feelings make the decision righteous.

That should create some serious conviction for athletes and coaches because sports give us plenty of opportunities to justify whatever serves us.

We can call selfishness competitiveness. We can call arrogance confidence. We can call disrespect passion. We can call revenge motivation. We can call jealousy wanting it more. We can call compromising our values doing what it takes to win, and if we’re determined enough to get what we want, the human heart is incredibly good at finding language that makes selfishness sound noble.

That’s exactly why “follow your heart” is dangerous.

The Christian response isn’t to follow your heart. It’s to submit your heart to God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Notice where the trust is placed. Scripture doesn’t say trust your heart. It says trust the LORD with your heart. It doesn’t tell us that our understanding will eventually lead us where we need to go. It specifically warns us not to lean on our own understanding. That’s a completely different message from the one our culture keeps feeding athletes.

Our culture says believe in yourself above everything else, while Christianity says there’s Someone more trustworthy than you.

That doesn’t mean Christian athletes should become passive, afraid to make decisions, or unwilling to chase big goals. I want athletes who dream big, compete their tails off, and have enough confidence to walk into difficult situations believing they can succeed. What I don’t want is an athlete whose ambition has become their god, because once getting what you want becomes more important than who you’re becoming, you’ll eventually start compromising things you once swore you never would.

Athletics will test that constantly. What happens when lying protects your position? What happens when cutting a corner gives you an advantage? What happens when a teammate succeeds in the position you wanted? What happens when your coach makes a decision you hate? What happens when transferring, quitting, retaliating, posting something online, or tearing somebody else down feels completely justified because you’re angry?

Your feelings are real, but real doesn’t automatically mean right.

That distinction matters because we’ve created a culture where challenging somebody’s feelings can almost sound cruel. Feelings matter, and they can tell us important things about what we’re experiencing, but Christians aren’t commanded to obey every feeling that shows up. Anger doesn’t give us permission to sin. Attraction doesn’t automatically make a relationship wise. Ambition doesn’t make every opportunity God’s will. Feeling disrespected doesn’t justify disrespecting somebody back, and wanting something badly doesn’t mean God wants it for us.

Sometimes obedience means telling your heart no.

That’s where following Christ gets expensive because it’s easy to obey God when His will lines up perfectly with what we already wanted. The real test comes when Scripture confronts something we desperately want to justify. If I only submit to God when He agrees with me, I’m not actually submitting to God. I’m asking Him to endorse decisions I’ve already made.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) gives Christian athletes and coaches a much better standard: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Whatever means whatever.

That includes how you compete, how you treat officials, how you respond to coaching, what you say about teammates, what you post online, how you handle playing time, what you do when nobody is watching, and how you respond when you don’t get what you believe you deserve. Christianity doesn’t stop when the whistle blows, and character doesn’t become optional because the scoreboard is close.

I’ve always believed athletes should compete with an edge. I want intensity. I want athletes who hate losing, attack challenges, and aren’t afraid of pressure. None of that requires becoming selfish, dishonest, disrespectful, or consumed with yourself. If your competitiveness requires you to compromise your character, that isn’t toughness. You’ve allowed winning to become more important than obedience.

Ephesians 5:10 (ESV) says, “and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

That’s a much harder question than asking what feels right.

What feels right usually puts me at the center of the decision. What do I want? What makes me happy? What helps my career? What gets me playing time? What gives me recognition? What makes my life easier? Asking what pleases God forces me to consider whether the thing I want lines up with the One I claim to follow.

Sometimes it will.

Sometimes it absolutely won’t.

Christian athletes need to understand that God isn’t obligated to bless every dream we attach His name to. You can pray about something and still want the wrong thing. You can work incredibly hard for something God never promised you. You can have tremendous athletic ability and still use it selfishly. You can achieve everything you thought you wanted and discover that success makes a terrible god.

That’s why our hearts need more than motivation. They need transformation.

Romans 12:2 (ESV) says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Following Christ isn’t about learning to trust every instinct more deeply. It’s about allowing God to change what we desire, how we think, what we value, and how we make decisions. The goal isn’t to become better at following our hearts. The goal is for our hearts to become increasingly shaped by God.

That changes the question.

Instead of asking, “What does my heart want?” ask, “What does God say?”

Instead of building your life around what feels good, build it around what is true. Instead of assuming every strong desire deserves to be pursued, have enough spiritual maturity to examine it. Pray about it. Compare it with Scripture. Seek wise counsel. Check your motives and be willing to hear an answer you don’t like.

Athletes understand submission better than we sometimes realize. You don’t get to rewrite the training program because another workout sounds more fun. You don’t ignore the game plan because your feelings tell you differently. You submit yourself to coaching because you recognize that somebody may see something you don’t.

Yet somehow, when it comes to God, we want complete control.

We want Him to bless the plan, open the door, give us the opportunity, protect the relationship, provide the success, and make everything work while we maintain veto power over anything He says that interferes with what we want.

That isn’t surrender.

There’s nothing biblical about telling Christians to blindly follow their hearts. Scripture gives us something much harder and much better. Trust God with your heart, allow Him to transform your thinking, learn to discern what pleases Him, and then have enough courage to obey when His direction conflicts with your desires.

Your heart can be loud. Your feelings can be convincing. Your desires can feel completely justified, and you can still be wrong.

The question for Christian athletes and coaches isn’t whether you have enough courage to follow your heart. The harder question is whether you have enough faith to follow Christ when He tells your heart no.