At one point in time, we have all had that pair of shoes we just did not want to give away. Those shoes that were the one constant in the games we won and the games we didn’t.  Those cleats that we have broken in so much that it feels like an old friend giving a hug each time we lace them up. Those running shoes that we slipped on to go run the deep feelings of hurt, loneliness, or fear away and each time felt a little better. It’s the old that brings us comfort and familiarity, but, in reality, they just don’t work anymore. They can’t give us the support we need; they have run their course, and it is time for something new. 

When we become followers of Jesus Christ, God’s Word teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “… anyone who belongs to Christ becomes a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 

We are a new person. 

We must understand, however, this isn’t behavior modification but a heart transformation. God changes us from the inside out. When we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, died for our sins and defeated death three days later, God awakens our soul that was dead in sin. We exchange the old life that was led by our flesh for the new life that is led by our spirit. But like our old shoes, the old life is what we know; it’s comfortable and familiar. We can find ourselves wanting to slip back into old habits that led to destructive behavior, old thoughts that led to fear and anxiety and old identities that leave us feeling lost and lonely. 

When we step into this new life, we are no longer living to prove but living proof. 

Some of these “old ways” that seem to plague us include, I am only as good as my performance, I have to prove myself to be somebody or Who am I if I am not playing, starting, or winning? As coaches and athletes, we can live our whole lives trying to prove ourselves to a world that is always changing its standards, finding ourselves on a performance treadmill that leaves us feeling tired, alone and never going anywhere. 

But when we are living proof, we live, coach and play as though we are already loved and accepted by God no matter what the world says or does. We are proof that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more and nothing we can do to make God love us any less. 

The Apostle Paul understood this better than most. One instance, he was on his way to stand trial in Rome for preaching the Good News of Jesus when his ship wrecked on the island of Malta. It was cold and rainy, so they were building a fire to keep warm. 

“As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, ‘A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.’ But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.”  

Acts 28:3-6 

People defined him as both a murderer and a god—neither was true. In the sports world, you will hear people both sing your praises and shout their curses. But nobody gets to define us except for the One who created us. Our jobs don’t define us. Our record doesn’t define us. Fans don’t define us. Our platform doesn’t define us. That is the “Old.” 

When we become followers of Jesus, God is the only one who gets to have a say about this. And who are we? 

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” 

John 1:12 

This is the “New.” 

We have to be reminded that until being a child of God is enough, nothing else will be.