Herm Edwards is a former NFL football coach most known for his speech where he boldly declared: "You play to win the game!"
As much as we football-types like to make fun of Herm for this, I think there is a bit of truth there. Let's stick with football a second. One of the most frustrating things about some football games is watching your team get ahead by doing all of the right things: being aggressive, executing well, and making plays...and then watching them stumble late in the game by becoming tentative. We've given that phenomenon a name in football fan circles: "Playing not to lose." And what usually ends up happening? Your team loses, not necessarily because they're not better, but because they lost their swagger. It's terrible to watch.
Some days, I find myself not being that assertive, proactive type of person that I know God made me to be. Rather, I become a passive, excuse-laden guy who is "playing not to lose." Today, I stand on 2 Timothy 1:7 (YLT): "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
