Every member of a team should be both valued and valuable. But that doesn't always happen. Jesus, however, insisted on it. He washed all His disciples' feet, not just a few. Each disciple got playing time with Him. Each disciple went on mission with Him, even Judas Iscariot. No one was left on the bench. They became world-changers. We should do the same.

Athlete, we often neglect one of our biggest resources. We too often treat this person like he is on the JV team. Who is this? The Holy Spirit. Jesus actually said it was to our advantage that He go away so the Spirit would come (John 16:7). He said the exchange would be worth it, that the Spirit within us is better than Jesus beside us. The Holy Spirit is varsity level God worthy of our attention!

When the Spirit fails to play a vital role in how we live, a power failure results. Our life-lights go dim. Losing seasons in life start stacking up. Christianity turns into religion and religion will taste forever stale if the Spirit is not there. Perhaps Bono said it best: "Religion is what happens when the Spirit has left the building."

Romans 8:16 says "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” The Spirit executes a vital background check. He confirms the true believer in Christ in his faith and following. He bears witness inside an individual that he/she belongs to God's family. And a God-confirmed individual becomes powerful and grounded, sure of who he/she belongs to and where he/she is going. That kind of individual is bound to win in life by living well in circumstance and rising triumphantly above circumstance.