Nebraska football assistant coach Ron Brown said, “There are 55 million kids in America involved in organized sports. That is why Kingdom Sports uses sports as a vehicle to reach young athletes with the love of Jesus Christ and how to glorify Him.” Coach Brown is a co-founder of this ministry, which organizes Pass It On Camps and Clinics to help parents pass on their faith. Whether it’s through football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, or any other sport, they aim to help athletes and coaches recognize their need for Jesus Christ. Brown explained, “There are 300 times in scripture where it says, if you really want to honor God, you must learn how to trust Him. Kingdom Sports thinks it’s important to learn this at a young age.”

Solomon teaches that it is the duty of a father and the privilege of a child for the father to pass wisdom down to his son. There is a choice between the path that leads to life and one that leads to destruction. Mark Twain said that when he was eighteen, his father was so ignorant that Twain could hardly stand to be in his presence. Yet Twain remarked that by the time he was twenty-one, he felt that his father had smartened up considerably in only three short years. What was the difference? It was Twain and not his father. Nearly every parent or coach can relate to Twain’s story. Many young people need the wisdom their parents provide, but too often, they are resistant to it.

Proverbs 3-4 – Legacy Lessons

As parents and coaches, we must work diligently to pass on wisdom to the next generation. Solomon makes the point in these chapters that youth must learn from the mistakes of others. Every coach and parent has experienced the negative consequences of not following the path of wisdom. They want to share the lessons they have learned with their children to spare them unnecessary hardships. Every coach knows there is a cause-and-effect consequence to each strategy they use during a game. Life is no different.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete seek to follow God’s wisdom as found in the Bible and also learn by observing the lives of others.

Bible Memory Verse – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 (LSB)