During high school, my volleyball coach was big on us doing countless reps. My junior year, I was fighting for the setting spot on varsity and coach set a goal for me to do 10,000 sets before tryouts started … it was painful.

To be honest, I didn’t complete the goal and the other setter definitely did. The starting job went to her. I did, however, learn what reps would help me accomplish.

Though I did not get that position, I became a much better setter after thousands and thousands of sets. Over the next two years, I ended up winning a position as the middle hitter. You better believe I was finishing my reps at that point, and then some.

Those reps taught my muscles the correct technique so that my body would know what to do when game time came.

Athlete, what if your spiritual life experienced the same reps as your sports do?

After years of volleyball I know where I need to be, when I need to start my hitting approach and where I need to take off in order to hit the set put before me. I even know how to adjust when my setter doesn’t set perfectly. When I get served, I know where my body needs to be in relation to the ball, what direction my arms and shoulders need to be facing and what I need to say in order to communicate with my teammates.

But that didn’t happen after one practice and it wasn’t because I read a dummy manual on the basics of volleyball. It happened after thousands of practices and games.

Why do we need reps in our spiritual life? We need those reps because when it is game time, when life gets real, when the rubber meets the road we need to know what God says. Will you know how to turn to Him? Will you have a community to support you? Will you choose to follow Him?

Challenge: Start getting your reps in now, no matter what the cost.

Spiritual reps to start practicing: Get to know the Bible, read it daily. Talk to God one-on-one out loud, in a journal, or in your head. Get involved in a church and meet some people who can encourage you in your faith.

The result: You will grow in confidence in who God says you are, even when the world says something different. You will grow in peace as you learn about how God is in control of your life. You will let go more because you will know that He has good plans for you. You will gain a friend in Jesus. You will likely see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control increase in your life. You will find that you are building your life on solid rock, instead of sand. The list could go on …