Don't Fall for the Finesse: Real MVPs Rise Above the Flattery 🏆🚫🧢

My why for being a basketball trainer is to honor and obey God by:

1️⃣ Using basketball as a vehicle for athletes to get to know God better.

2️⃣ Ensuring that they feel Christ-like love and support which is unconditional, and not performance-based. A love and support they do not have to earn with their athletic ability.

3️⃣ Treat every player as God sees and created them, as his very own one-of-a-kind MVP and VIP.

For this post, I want to focus on #3. While being properly seen as an MVP and a VIP is a great thing, heartbrokenly, many athletes choose not to work with me for that very reason.

🔥 Because I see them as God's VIP and MVP, I hold them to an MVP standard.

Often, before working with me, no one in their life has ever seen them as the MVP that they were created to be in life and in athletics. Along with that, they have never seen themselves in that light.

The result of that is they have never been held to such a standard, and when I hold them to a godly standard, it can come across like I'm hatin'. That leads some to gravitate toward trainers that do not love them, respect them, and believe in them enough to challenge them to become all that God meant for them to be.

🏙️ Here in Denver, where I train, there are trainers who are hype beasts that will hit young athletes' DMs to gas them up and give them a false sense of accomplishment so that they can build their business and resume.

(Side note: Is it just me, or does anyone else think it's weird that grown folks are out here thirstily sliding into young kids' DMs, dishonestly begging them to work out to get clout? 🤔 just doesn’t sit well with me.)

These trainers will never keep it 💯, but instead over-indulge them with flattery. Many players fall for the finesse, which is the beginning of them falling short of their potential.

To those players and more importantly to you, as you continue to pursue your athletic potential I want you to hold on to these verses:

📖 "Flattery can often be used as a trap to hide ulterior motives and take advantage of you." - Proverbs 29:5 TPT

📖 "Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others." - Colossians 3:23 TPT

As you digest those, and you decide whom you want to place trust in for your athletic and character development, you can trust one who is committed to holding you to God's MVP standard, that will demand you put your heart and soul into every rep. Or, you can fall for the finesse of flattery. If you do, know that they are trying to take advantage of you.

🚀 Choose wisely, MVP’s. Your potential is on the line!