Week 1 in college football wrapped up last night with Notre Dame taking on Louisville and their new head coach, Scott Satterfield. It was bittersweet seeing the former head coach of Appalachian State (my alma mater) wearing new colors on the sideline, but it’s an exciting opportunity for him.
Louisville is coming off of a 2-10 season, so there's an understanding that it’s going to take some time to change the culture and turn the program around.
Some things will be different right away (they showed glimpses of an improved team last night), but they still lost 35-17. It will take time to implement a new system, so patience and understanding are going to be needed since everything won’t be fixed overnight.
As you look across college football, there are other situations and head coaches who are not being given the same kind of leeway and patience.
Jim Harbaugh is entering his fifth season at Michigan and the excuses are getting old as it’s time they beat their archrival Ohio State. Scott Frost at Nebraska struggled in year one, but they are expected to take a step forward this year as he adds the right players to his team.
The bottom line is that head coaches in college football are facing expectations based on their experience and the amount of time they’ve been around the program. Eventually, coaches must produce wins and can’t remain in the same spot as when they started.
There is a parallel found here in regards to each of our faith journeys. When we begin following Jesus, some things about our life will change immediately, but there are other mindsets or behaviors that will take some time to adjust.
At first, the Bible is new to us and we’re learning to follow a completely different playbook, but Jesus transforms our lives as we learn, grow, and implement His truth.
While patience and understanding are needed for new believers, there comes a point where maturity, fruit, and profound life change should be evident.
We have to move past making excuses, as we should be experiencing more and more victories in our lives. We need to take clear steps forward from struggling with the sins we once did, and surround ourselves with the right people.
We don’t want to remain in the same spot as when we started following Jesus because He has so much more to do in us and through us.
The Bible describes the difference between spiritual infancy and spiritual maturity in Hebrews 5:12-14 (AMP):
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers , you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s Word , and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food.
"For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a spiritual infant. But solid food is for the mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil.”
Today, let’s not remain stuck but pursue a deeper understanding of God’s Word so our faith will grow and we’ll be more equipped to know what is right.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I’m thankful for how long I’ve known You and I pray You would continue to help me grow and mature so I can understand even deeper spiritual truths. Help me to pursue You with all of my heart and not settle. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
What areas of your life have taken the longest to change?
In what ways do you still feel like a spiritual infant?
In what ways have you seen the most change or spiritual maturity?
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