Loyalty is essential in the world of sports. It is unswerving, unshakeable faithfulness at all times. There should be no denying our loyalty to our team. Today, athletes and coaches change schools, teams, and programs at the drop of a hat. It seems loyalty is a thing of the past—old school. But for the success of a team, loyalty is imperative!

After leading the nation in total offense and passing yards per game last season, University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum was all set to lead the Cougars to another great run in 2010. That all changed, however, when in just their third game Keenum suffered a season-ending knee injury that forced him to the sideline for his senior season. As a man of faith, the injury forced Keenum to rely on the Lord in new ways and to fully trust in the Lord’s ultimate plan.

One of the greatest attributes of leaders is a desire and obedience to serve others. Jesus communicated that the most important commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and then to love others. To put it simply: Love God; love others. Or, to use the old acronym for J.O.Y.: Jesus, Others, You.

Weight lifters often use spotters to help them stay safe during workouts and get maximum results. In your own experience, have you ever done a bench press workout without a spotter? I have. And when I tried it, my workout was lack luster. I couldn’t work out as intensely as I could have if I’d known I had someone there.

When I bench press, I’m so much more effective when I have a spotter to encourage me and offer help if I need it. When I get tired, my spotter speaks encouraging words or helps me lift, and he provides just enough help so that I can finish that last rep or two. He really helps me have a great workout instead of just a good workout.

Nate is as strong as a bull. While playing superback in college in the Big Ten Conference, he battled some of the toughest players in the game of football. Right before Christmas this year, however, he found out that he was battling an even tougher opponent: Stage 3 cancer. On Christmas Eve, he had a tumor removed, but the doctors were still concerned that more cancer might have spread. No amount of physical strength alone would be able to tackle this issue.

I’ll never forget standing in the locker room with my Division 1 field hockey players and listening to their postgame chatter. I was their new assistant coach, we had just lost our first game, and I was anxious to see how they were doing.