This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of the FCA Donor Publication. The FCA publication is a gift from our FCA staff to all donors giving $50 or more annually. For more information about giving, visit here.

There’s something to be said for the person who keeps showing up. Not the flash-in-the-pan individual or the headline chaser, but the one who rises early, laces up and walks the (often) lonely lap of obedience — again and again. Cultivating Christlike character doesn’t often make a lot of noise or grab attention, but it does develop deep roots of abiding with Jesus, and in time, it leaves an indelible mark and legacy.

At first glance, faithfulness in sports — and in life — seems to hinge on pushing through pain and producing results. But Jesus measures impact differently. He shifts our focus from performance to posture. Success, in His eyes, begins not with strength but with surrender. And nothing forms lasting Christlike character like continual surrender and dependence on our trustworthy God.

It’s one thing to believe that truth in theory. It’s another to live it out. I’ve had to learn the hard way: through missed expectations, ministry that didn’t go as I had hoped, and moments of loss. But God kept bringing me back to a different scoreboard — one marked by grace. Paul put it plainly in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”

If dependence is the goal, then weakness isn’t a liability — it’s actually an advantage. Because when we fully depend upon Jesus and His Spirit in us, that’s where His power shows up.

That truth hits differently when you’re at the end of your rope — when plans fall apart, when the team is thin, when your own capacity and strength fail you. I’ve stood in front of teams with more questions and doubts than answers, and at other times I’ve had to repent publicly for how self-reliant I had become. In those moments, what looked like failure was really formation. God wasn’t asking me to be the hero. He was asking me to trust Him — to let His strength show up and be displayed in my surrender.

Athletes know the secret to greatness often lies in the reps no one sees. Cultivating Christlike character is the same — it’s often forged in obscurity, weakness and wilderness. And when we lead from the overflow of intimacy that comes from radical dependence on Jesus, He promises fruit will come (John 15:5).

Prayer: Jesus, remind us again that Your grace is enough. Teach us to lead not from strength but from surrender. May our lives point to You — not because we have it all together but because we’ve seen Your power made perfect in our weakness. Amen.

-FCA-