Some see God as a coach

• Another relational metaphor, which is less parental but still portrays God as helping us to develop and mature, is that of God as an educator or a coach. This God teaches us and guides us toward knowledge and maturity. She trains us and encourages us to do well. Flora A. Keshgegian
• The metaphor of God as nurturing parent moves away from a God who is intent on directing our lives, but it is still a familial metaphor. God’s will may be for our growth and development, yet we remain God’s children. Another relational metaphor, which is less parental but still portrays God as helping us to develop and mature, is that of God as an educator or a coach. This God teaches us and guides us toward knowledge and maturity. She trains us and encourages us to do well. Flora A. Keshgegian
• You and I are players, God’s our coach, and we’re playing the biggest game of all. We have a loving God that made us. We need to get on His team. It says in His word, there’s only one way to Him and that’s through Jesus Christ. Joe Gibbs

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God as coach is concerned about our well-being and flourishing

• Both God as parent and God as teacher/coach will what seems best for us and for the world, with a deep and genuine commitment to the good of all. At the forefront of God’s regard is genuine concern for human well-being and the world’s flourishing. Flora A. Keshgegian
• Here’s good news: God is even more committed to your change, your growth, and your transformation than you are. Kevin DeYoung

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God wants to help us grow our souls

• In reality, there are no enemies; we’re all souls in growth, waking up. James Redfield
• Real spiritual growth is always growth downward, so to speak, into profounder humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age. J. I. Packer
• Our souls do not like stagnation. Our souls aspire toward growth, that is, toward remembering all that we have forgotten due to our trip to this place, the earth. Malidoma Patrice Some
• God as teacher or coach provides guidance toward growth and development. Flora A. Keshgegian
• At the soul level, we get precisely what we need in our lives for our spiritual growth. How we judge what we get determines whether we experience life as painful or joyful. Colin Tipping
• Physical growth of the body reaches a limit, but the character and the soul of the individual continues to grow, or at least has a chance to continue, often to our last breath. Wes Jackson
• That’s the sacred intent of life, of God–to move us continuously toward growth, toward recovering all that is lost and orphaned within us and restoring the divine image imprinted on our soul. Sue Monk Kidd
• Discomfort is a pain. Boredom is a pain. A perfect piece of music can reduce us to tears. Every one of these pains is essential to the growth of the soul. Pain is part of the beauty of life. It enriches us. Ruben Papian
• Growth of the soul is our goal, and there are many ways to encourage that growth, such as through love, nature, healing our wounds, forgiveness, and service. The soul grows well when giving and receiving love. Joan Z. Borysenko
• The growth of the soul may be compared to the growth of a plant. In both cases, no new properties are imparted by the operation of external causes, but only the inward tendencies are called into action and clothed with strength. George Ripley
• A spiritually optimistic point of view holds that the universe is woven out of a fabric of love. Everything that is happening is ultimately for the good if we’re willing to face it head-on and use our adversities for soul growth. Joan Z. Borysenko
• As you become multi-sensory, you begin to see yourself as a soul first and a personality second. You begin to experience yourself as more than a body and more than a mind. and the circumstances around you as meaningful and designed for your spiritual growth. Gary Zukav
• When we enter a forest phase in our lives we enter a period of wandering and a time of potential soul growth. Here it is possible to find what we have cut off from, to “remember” a once vital aspect of ourselves. We may uncover a wellspring of creativity that has been hidden for decades. Jean Shinoda Bolen
• Spiritual growth is more than procedure, it’s a wild search for God in the midst of the tangled jungle of our souls, a search for which involves a volatile mix of messy reality, wild freedom, frustrating stuckness, increasing slowness and a healthy dose of gratitude Mike Yaconelli

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Growth of the soul is the very purpose of life

• The soul seeks growth. Edgar Cayce
• The nourishment and growth of the soul is the very reason for human life. Joan Z. Borysenko
• The growth and development of the soul is more important than power and glory. Henri Frederic Amiel
• You have to go through those mountains and valleys – because that’s what life is: soul growth. Wayne Newton
• The purpose of life is soul growth. We are here to become transcendent and to become one with God. There is no more to life than this. In other words, we are here to love. Sara Wiseman
• Reincarnation is the evolution of spirit through matter. Over thousands and millions of lifetimes, the soul evolves. It comes into the light. The growth is slow. Frederick Lenz
• Your life is a sacred journey. It is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. Caroline Adams Miller
• Becoming integrated and whole is the spiritual path. The body is your vehicle. Your job is to learn about yourself from your experiences and change yourself. This is spiritual growth. Gary Zukav
• The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use. Sri Aurobindo
• The goal remains constant: for all beings to fulfil the possibility built into existence and being by God, the creator and source of all. Flora A. Keshgegian
• To me, success is one’s ability to keep the faith, develop his God-given talents, and be able to honestly say at the close of life, the world is a better place because I have lived. Belle S. Spafford
• We live that our souls may grow. The development of the soul is the purpose of existence. John G. Lake

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God wants to help us recognise and develop our potential

• God wants us to grow and achieve our potential. Carlos A. Godoy
• God created us, loves us and wants to help us to realize our potential so that we can be useful to others. Benjamin Carson
• Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their growth. John Whitmore
• Circumstances and crises are God’s tools to move you into your purpose and the maximizing of your potential. Myles Munroe
• God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers. Abdul Kalam
• Pain happens to everyone. To grow up, to fulfill your potential, to develop into what God wants you to be-this process takes support. No one succeeds alone. Clay Aiken
• God puts people in our lives on purpose so we can help them succeed and help them become all He created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them. Joel Osteen
• Every person is a God in embryo. Its only desire is to be born. Deepak Chopra
• I have to come to realize that God does not want to punish us, but rather, to fulfill our lives. God created us, loves us and wants to help us to realize our potential so that we can be useful to others. Benjamin Carson
• God knows your value; He sees your potential. You may not understand everything you are going through right now. But hold your head up high, knowing that God is in control and he has a great plan and purpose for your life. Joel Osteen
• Through persistence and hard work, we can each unlock the potential God has given us. We have within us not only the capacity to accomplish great things but also the ability to do ordinary things in extraordinary ways. Lloyd D. Newell
• God created us with an overwhelming desire to soar. Our desire to develop and use every ounce of potential He’s placed in us is not egotistical. He designed us to be tremendously productive and “to mount up with wings like eagles,” realistically dreaming of what He can do with our potential. Carol Kent
• God wants you to go home, look at your bucket of seed, and determine in your heart how much you’d like to sow. He wants you to consider thoughtfully your current circumstances, your life, your potential, and your finances. He wants you to involve your family. He wants you to pray about it. And then He wants you to come up with a plan. Andy Stanley
• To lack confidence is to have feelings of low self-worth. We are preoccupied with our weaknesses, and we lack faith in the Lord’s ability to use those weaknesses for our good. We do not understand our inestimable worth in the eyes of God, nor do we appreciate our divine potential. Ironically, both pride and a lack of self-confidence cause us to focus excessively on ourselves and to deny the power of God in our lives. Glenn L. Pace

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Our potential and talents are our gift from God…

• Every life, I think, has that potential because I believe each life is a gift of God… because God is love. Dolores Hart
• People aren’t things to be molded; they are lives to be unfolded. And that’s what true leaders do. They unfold the lives of others and help them reach their God-given potential. Rick Warren
• Every great tradition has told you that you were created in the image and the likeness of the creative source. That means that you have God potential and power to create your world. James Arthur Ray
• God didn’t have time to make a nobody, only a somebody.I believe that each of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition. Mary Kay Ash
• Constantly reemphasize to yourself the great fact that God built potential strength into your nature. By affirming it and practicing it, this basic strength will toughen up as muscles do. Norman Vincent Peale
• I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don’t know anything about. Joel Osteen
• God has put a dream inside you. It’s yours, and no one else’s. It declares your uniqueness. It holds your potential. Only you can birth it. Only you can live it. Not to discover it, take responsibility for it, and act upon it is to negatively affect yourself as well as all those who would benefit from your dream. John C. Maxwell
• As children of God we are somebody. He will build us, mold us, and magnify us if we will but hold our heads up, our arms out, and walk with him. What a great blessing to be created in his image and know of our true potential in and through him! What a great blessing to know that in his strength we can do all things! Marvin J. Ashton
• Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it. Pope John Paul II
• Real ability is the child of God-given talent and rock-solid diligence. Nobody maintains ability without hard work. Nobody. Cung Le
• Talent is a gift from God. Sharon Osbourne
• Talent is God given. Be humble. John Wooden
• When you find your spiritual gift, God will give you an opportunity to use it. John C. Maxwell

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…while the development of our potential and talents is our gift back to God

• God’s greatest gift to you is your unlimited potential. Your greatest gift to God is to use that potential to the fullest. James Arthur Ray
• Ability is God-given, prowess is earned. John Harbaugh
• Everyone has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use. Sri Aurobindo
• God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius. Anna Pavlova
• Our talents are the gift that God gives to us… What we make of our talents is our gift back to God. Leo Buscaglia
• What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. Eleanor Powell
• When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’. Erma Bombeck

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God as coach encourages and cheers us on

• From God we learn the basic principles of life and are given the skills and resources necessary to accomplish the tasks before us and to grow into full maturity. As a coach, God encourages us and even cheers us on. However, God does not step in or intervene in the final outcome. This God is fully in charge-as a teacher or coach might be-of the learning and training environment but not of the whole process or its goals. Flora A. Keshgegian

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God knows what we are capable of

• God not only sees where you are, He sees where you can be. Joyce Meyer

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God helps us grow the soul by offering us challenges and trials

• A bad day for your ego is a great day for your soul. Jillian Michaels
• Suffering of sentient beings is like decay; it fertilizes the growth of their souls. Anne Rice
• The challenges we face in life are always lessons that serve our soul’s growth. Marianne Williamson
• A life with difficult relationships, filled with obstacles and losses, presents the most opportunity for the soul’s growth. Brian L. Weiss
• Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted. Brennan Manning
• More learning can occur when there are many obstacles then when there are few or none. A life with difficult relationships, filled with obstacles and losses, presents the most opportunity for the soul’s growth. You may have chosen the more difficult life so that you could accelerate your physical progress Brian L. Weiss
• The pains that you suffer, the loneliness that you encounter, the experiences that are disappointing or distressing, the addictions and seeming pitfalls of your life are each doorways to awareness. Each offers you an opportunity to see beyond the illusion that serves as the balancing and growth of your soul. Gary Zukav
• At times it may seem that our trials are focused on areas of our lives and parts of our souls with which we seem least able to cope. Since personal growth is an intended outcome of these challenges, it should come as no surprise that the trials can be very personal-almost laser guided to our particular needs or weaknesses. Paul V. Johnson
• Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God’s most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear. Charles Stanley
• God in His infinite wisdom knows exactly what adversity we need to grow…. He not only knows what we need but when we need it and how best to bring it to pass in out lives. He is the perfect teacher or coach. His discipline is always exactly suited for our needs. He never overtrains by allowing too much adversity into our lives. Jerry Bridges

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God as coach breaks through traditional male and patriarchal imagery

• God as a nurturing parent may be either male or female, so this metaphor begins to break through the necessarily male and patriarchal imagery that has attended the metaphors for God considered in the previous chapters. There is even room for moving away from familial and paternal renderings of God by imagining God as teacher or coach or even as spirit. What is common to all these conceptions is a relational focus that is more centered on the world and its needs. Flora A. Keshgegian

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The metaphor of God as coach is based on need and some reliance

• As long as God is a parent or a teacher or a coach, our relationship with God continues to be based on need. Children are, by definition, dependent on the adults in charge. They may have freedom of will but only in a limited way. Students and those in training are also dependent; they need teachers and coaches. The adults, whether they are parents, guardians, teachers, or coaches, maintain more power. They make the rules and expect children to obey them. Parents, however attentive to children’s desires and needs, ultimately decide what is best for their children and may discipline and even punish them. Teachers may work hard to educate their students, as may coaches to train their players, but, in the end, teachers give grades and coaches cut players from their teams. They set the goals toward which their students and players are to strive. Judgment remains with God. Flora A. Keshgegian