Motivation from Herm Edwards and the Apostle Paul

I like Herm Edwards.

The former NFL coach is famous for his fiery speeches.

In the clip above, Edwards was speaking to NFL rookies at the league’s recent rookie symposium. He lectured them on hard work, talent, and being a professional in the league.

The words that really stood out to me were his closing ones.

“Don’t waste your talent.”

In the NFL, where millions are often wasted on players who don’t apply themselves, I hope these words ring true for the new rookies.

The Apostle Paul was also a great motivational communicator. He didn’t have YouTube or the bright lights of ESPN, but he had the Hebrew Scriptures from which to share wisdom. He also drew from his personal experience.

Paul knew that he didn’t deserve to be an apostle because he had been a persecutor of the church, but he also knew that God’s grace had made him who he was, and that by God’s grace he could work hard at his new “occupation” (1 Corinthians 15:9).

He got a second chance and made the most of it. I guess you could say that he didn’t waste his talent.

Whatever your past, whatever your talent, are you making the most of it by God’s grace?

— Chris Pugh

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Video clip from ESPN’s YouTube page)

How God uses underdogs

ESPN ran an interesting documentary on Tom Brady last night.

One of the fascinating aspects of the NFL superstar’s career is that he didn’t start right away for Michigan and that he was drafted 199th in the 2000 draft.

The documentary shows an emotional Brady remembering how upset he was when he didn’t get drafted until the sixth round.

As an underdog, Brady could have given up, but he worked hard to become one of the game’s top players.

Have you noticed that God often uses underdogs to do amazing things for Him?

1 Corinthians 1:27 says: “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful” (NLT).

The Bible is filled with ordinary people who were used by God

Consider King David.

He was chosen to be king of Israel as a young shepherd boy. Although he made mistakes, he was called a man after God’s own heart.

Peter and John, two of Jesus’ apostles, were “ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures” (Acts 4:13 NLT), but God used them mightily to establish His church.

Do you feel like a spiritual underdog? Good! God does great things through spiritual underdogs who trust in Him.

—Chris Pugh