A story is given about a famous football coach known for significantly influencing sports culture in America and the West, Vincent Thomas Lombardi. To my utter surprise, Coach Lombardi was not famous for how many championships he led his teams to win or how many trophies they took home although they weren’t few. Coach Lombardi was known for his commitment to the basics of football. One of his famous sentences was, “this, gentlemen, is a football” as he held the ball in his hands while speaking to grown men who were all professional athletes.
He went on to start every single football season teaching his team of professionals the very basics, kicking, blocking, and passing. While this felt almost insulting to these gentlemen, it was a test of character, a circumcision of familiarity and an assertion of consistency. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines consistency as the ability to be asserted together without contradiction. To be asserted is to confidently declare or maintain a particular position that not only gives an assurance to someone or for something but enhances trust.
Consistency is a fundamental discipline that every believer needs in order to grow in the faith, to build a solid relationship with God, to be established in holiness and to be transformed into the light which Christ has afforded us through his sacrifice. Coach Lombardi did not become famous for all the obvious reasons but for his commitment to the basics and even more, his consistency in the method that proved to work regardless of whom it was being applied on.
Consistency as an attribute of God’s Character
The scriptures are full of examples of consistency and the fruit it yields but the most important attribute I believe that describes consistency is found in Hebrews 13:8 ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever’. Selah. What manner of comfort does it stir in your spirit to know that the God you have known as faithful, just, present, as your inheritance, will bear the same testimony of his name and nature to your children and their children? How do you live life knowing that the legacy of faith you are leaving to your loved ones once you pass away is one that is permanent and not one that will suddenly transform into something else?
It is settling to know this truth in your spirit- that if there is any change that would occur, it is that of experiencing God on a deeper level.This is what makes consistency a product of divine enablement and not mere efforts of men as stand alone. Many times we tend to take on multiple tasks with the thought that we can manage it and we do for some time but eventually grow weary. Jesus Christ, who is the perfect example of faith, never took on a million things altogether.
His ultimate goal in life was to do the Father’s will (John 6:38) and everything else he did was to be consistent in doing everything that fulfilled the primary purpose of his coming [pause and think].Sometimes all it takes, just like the example of Coach Lombardi has proven to work, is to find one thing that is consistent to what God has placed in your heart and to do it well. It is a test of character when you are able to keep at one thing when it feels mundane, when you think you can’t get any better cause you have gotten perfect at it. It takes great maturity to keep courting that woman even when you have married her and given her multiple children. It takes great discipline to eat just enough and not necessarily out of the abundance of things.
It takes a sincere knowing of the state of depravity and emptiness we would carry as human beings when separated from God consequently leading you to hunger for His counsel (His word) more than necessary food (Job 23:12). Almost all of us feel a weariness at the mention of the word “discipline” and yet by its original etymology the word discipline refers to a training that relates to cultivation of the mind, morals and employment of purpose mainly in children. To adults, it consists of cultivating the soul, especially by curbing their passions which can be like an unbridled horse if not tamed. It is therefore not possible to excel in consistency unless you are yielded to the help of one who remains the same from age to age – the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
Child of God, fixing our eyes on the one who set the most excellent, complete and blameless example, the man Jesus Christ, we can rest assured that consistency will no more be a subject of drudgery. Take the day to day, the mundane tasks, those that demand your attention or earn you a livelihood and do it, perfect it, be present in it as one serving the Lord through it (Colossians 3:23). You will not only see fruit but your character will be anchored. Familiarity shall not breed contempt, appreciation shall deepen and most importantly you will learn to appreciate the help of the Holy Spirit even in what seems to be a no brainer.
Hallelujah!
If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, and you feel that this is the perfect time, pray this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I thank you because you died for my sins and you were raised for my glory. Today, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I am born again. Amen.”
