PGA Tour pro Zach Johnson is a self-proclaimed sports enthusiast. And, as a Christian, he readily admits that his favorite story is one where sports and Scripture collide: David versus Goliath. At the mere mention of the biblical battle, Johnson sees flashes of a small shepherd boy with a sling and stones overtaking a Philistine giant. Immediately he is inspired.

I think you know what this is about!

It's the typical driveway basketball scenario: Your team is down by two with three seconds left on the clock. You get the pass at the top of the key and square up to take the game-winning shot. It's one of the most heart-pounding moments in your imaginary career, and, once the shot goes down (even if it's on the second or third try), you rejoice with the thousands of invisible spectators.

As athletes, we dream of being in those pressure-packed, crunch-time situations. The fourth quarters, ninth innings and final sets. When it comes to actual games, however, those visualizations take on a new reality.

In sports, a competitive drive is invaluable. As athletes, our desire to win can push us to the next level. We have to have an internal desire to win if we are going to perform our best when it matters the most, no matter what our “win” might be.

Most of us think about competitiveness in the context of competing against others. If we win, others lose. Or, even worse, if they win, we lose. Personally, I believe this win-lose mindset is a competitive mistake.

Have you reached a plateau or has your effort just stalled?

Those that overcome discouragement and failure, win.

In sports today, everything a pro athlete does is under a microscope. Every single day newspaper headlines scream about another athlete who has crashed and burned. Sometimes it's part of their personal life, while other times it's directly related to his or her sport. Either way, we have access to information about virtually everything these athletes do. Their lives are in full view.

If we're honest, I don't think any one of us would want that kind of scrutiny and spotlight on our lives. We all sin. And since our mistakes don't usually make the headlines, it's easy for us to think that we're getting away with them and just sweeping them under the rug. But, like I tell my kids, the truth always comes out.

Perhaps more than any other sport, Major League Baseball often becomes a family business. It’s not unusual for sons to follow in the footsteps of Major League dads or for brothers to pursue similar dreams on the diamond. What is rare, however, is for those Big League dreams to be realized by all of the sons in one family. The story of the three Drew boys from Hahira, Ga., is one of baseball’s current legends in the making. J.D., Tim and Stephen, who grew up playing front-yard baseball games in southern Georgia, all pursued that risky career path of baseball. And all three made it.

As athletes and coaches, we understand the meaning of discipline. Our lives are filled with early morning workouts and late nights in the gym. We sacrifice whatever it takes to reach our goals. We know that if we work harder than our opponents, we have a better chance of winning.

Alliesha Easley's story reads similarly to those that often appear in the pages of STV: An athlete grows up in a Christian home, excels at a specific sport, faces hardship, and then must rely on a relationship with Christ that began long ago — a relationship that has been fostered and cared for by FCA. In the end, the athlete comes out of the struggle a stronger person, Christian, teammate, friend and witness. Those, after all, are the stories from which we want our readers to draw inspiration and, ultimately, use to witness to others.