I have been a defensive coordinator for much of my football coaching career and have spent numerous hours studying film. Over time I have changed my approach to studying film. In preparing for the upcoming opponent I used to try to learn everything about them. What plays do they run from each formation? Are they strong oriented? Are they field oriented? What is their ratio of run to pass? First down? Second down? Third and long? Third and short?

I discovered that there were two problems with this plan. One was that an offense can change its approach to the game, rendering your research obsolete. The second was that, in studying an opponent, I was neglecting the play of my own team. I was ignoring basic questions: Were my own players aligned correctly, making the right reads, getting proper pursuit angles, sprinting to the ball?

After a less-than-successful season, a more experienced defensive coordinator, Luis, was brought in to take my position, and I was moved to offensive line. I watched Luis as he broke down film. He barely looked at the opponent’s film. He was little concerned with the play of next week’s opponent. He studied his defense. He wanted to know what his own players were doing: alignment, assignment, reads, pursuit. If the defense was sound, the offense’s tendencies were irrelevant.

I took Luis’s approach to film study and applied it to my own preparation. Rather than watch the opponent, I watched my offensive linemen. How was their alignment, their get-off, their pad level, their feet? And in the first two years that Luis coordinated the defense and I coached offensive line our team won two California section championships.

As Christians we are in another battle against another opponent, one who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. But how much do we study our opponent in this battle? There are scores of books, films, CD’s on the enemy and how he operates. Perhaps we should spend more time studying our own film. In our Christian lives we need to spend time studying the things of God. If the defense is sound, the enemy’s tendencies will be minimized.

Take Christ for example. Jesus knew everything about Satan, but when Christ was tempted, He used Scripture to frustrate the works of the enemy (Matthew 4:1-11). His defense was sound, and the enemy’s tendencies were rendered irrelevant. In our lives, we should follow His lead.