"Tom Landry - and the Bible" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

The first head coach for the Dallas Cowboys was the legendary Tom Landry. He was their coach for 29 years. Over his career, he had 20 consecutive winning seasons, two Super Bowl titles, five NFC titles, and 13 divisional titles. Those were the days. Oh, how I miss them! Tom Landry has the fifth-most wins for an NFL coach.

I have looked up to and admired Coach Landry for as long as I can remember, not just for his coaching ability, but for his character.

Coach Landry wrote his autobiography in 1990. I love what he said about winning and losing:

“As I began to understand what the Bible taught about loving God and my family, it helped me to put football and winning and losing into perspective. While it didn’t mean I wanted to win any less, I realized whatever I did or didn’t accomplish as coach of the Cowboys wasn’t the most important thing in my life. And that helped take some of the pressure off.” (“Tom Landry,” page 146)

Jesus said it like this. “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Today, I need to remind myself to shift my focus. Instead of letting worry take the lead, I choose to trust. I choose to seek God’s kingdom first, believing that everything else will fall into place in its perfect time and way.

Thanks, Coach Landry, for still coaching us!