Doubt: Living with Heart

Jeff Swarr on October 29, 2026

 

4 One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: 5 “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. 6 Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. 8 Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. 13 The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. 15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. … 18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” 19 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn’t get to him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to see you.” 21 Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”

Luke 8:4-15; 18-21

 

LIVING WITH HEART

Over ten years ago, I was reading through the Bible, and the word “heart” kept jumping off the page at me.

I reached out to Greg Carey, a professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary, who shared this insightful nugget with me: The Hebrew word “lev” was used in the original text of the Bible. The word lev is used intentionally because it represents the central hub of our lives, rather than just the physical organ. The heart is the center of our spiritual life and the foundation for our reasoning, decision-making, reflecting, and rational thought.

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”— Proverbs 16:9

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that while we may plan our journey, the Lord guides our steps.

How do we know we are on the path that God has for us?

We are called to pay attention to the moments—the breadcrumbs that God drops along our path. These breadcrumbs serve as reminders that God is guiding our steps, keeping our souls nourished and our hearts fresh.

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” — Deuteronomy 6:5-6

We take the words we read in Scripture and store them in our hearts. We hold them close so we can keep our hearts aligned with our walk with Jesus and our service to others. This reflects the encouragement in Hebrews 3:12-13: “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

Each day, we turn our heart to God.

Each day, recognize the breadcrumbs God leaves along your path.

Each day, be a breadcrumb in someone else’s journey.

Each day, live, work, and serve straight from the heart.

Lead well. Love better.

Jeff

Jeffrey Swarr is a baseball coach, author, and educator dedicated to helping others unlock their potential through mindset, resilience, leadership, and positive self-talk. A seasoned high school head baseball coach and author of works such as A Competitor’s Heart and The Daily Competitor, he shares daily insights on personal growth and purposeful living. Jeffrey strives to share his Christian faith with the students and athletes he is blessed to coach. He is married to Emily and the proud father of Simon, Spencer, and Shepherd.

Doubt: The Foundation of Faith

Jeff Swarr on October 7, 2026

 

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today the food we need, 12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13 And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:5-13

 

PRAY FREELY

Play freely. Play fearlessly. These are all attributes of the teams that make the winning plays. These are also the characteristics of people who live for God.

We live this way when we bring our life to God in prayer. In my life, I’ve experienced barriers to praying. God knows what we need and is waiting for us to just bring it to Him in prayer. He tells us this in Matthew 6:8: “Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!”

The barriers I have experienced are wanting to find the right words or thinking that my needs are too small for God. As we see, He already knows our needs, so stop worrying about having the right words. How can I say He knows our needs? I can say this because He’s answered prayers before.

In the spring of 2025, during our baseball season, there were two times that I got to our locker room before our players and took the time to just walk through our locker room and pray for each player. I did this because it came up in our Monday morning Scouts and Coaches Bible study when one of the coaches talked about it. I actually don’t remember who, and that’s not the point, but I learned it from others. The key piece in this was that nobody else knew that I was doing it—well, not at least another human being—but God knew.

The Monday after Easter of the 2025 season, I needed to have a conversation with one of our seniors about his life and some of the decisions he was making that impacted our team. I knew this conversation would be difficult, and it ended up taking two hours, with a lot of discussion back and forth covering many aspects of life and even faith. During this chat, I shared with our player that I had walked around the locker room and prayed for each player, including him. At that moment, the chat we were having shifted from confrontational to cooperative, and God’s presence was felt; God showed up. Or maybe I should say God was always there—we just recognized His presence. Looking back, as I walked around the locker room praying, God already knew our needs. He already knew that the players and I would need those prayers two weeks later.

Taking the time to pray allowed our players and me to align our lives with God’s plan for us. Take the time to pray. Take the time to share your needs freely. Take the time to pray and share your needs fearlessly.

If we want to live freely and live fearlessly, we are called to pray freely and pray fearlessly.

Lead well. Love better.

Jeff

Jeffrey Swarr is a baseball coach, author, and educator dedicated to helping others unlock their potential through mindset, resilience, leadership, and positive self-talk. A seasoned high school head baseball coach and author of works such as A Competitor’s Heart and The Daily Competitor, he shares daily insights on personal growth and purposeful living. Jeffrey strives to share his Christian faith with the students and athletes he is blessed to coach. He is married to Emily and the proud father of Simon, Spencer, and Shepherd.

Doubt: The Foundation of Faith

Jeff Swarr on September 16, 2026

 

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

 

DOUBT: THE FOUNDATION OF BELIEF

In the spring of 2023, we had an experienced baseball team returning from the previous season. In our first game of the season, we faced a quality opposing pitcher and got shut out. In our second game of the season, we lost in an extra-innings walk-off affair. As we entered our third game of the season, doubt crept into my mind about how good we could be. This doubt became great as the third game progressed, entering the bottom of the 7th, losing 1-0. Lo and behold, we scored two runs in the bottom of the 7th, winning in walk-off fashion. We then won 12 of the next 13 games. Our doubt becomes the foundation of faith.

Being raised in a Christian home, we would hear biblical stories of faith from a young age. We hear of Jesus healing the sick, the lame, the blind, and the poor. Many of these healings end with Jesus blessing those that have been healed with this phrase, “…your faith has made you well.”

Jesus healed the bleeding woman, and then in Matthew 9:22, Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

In Mark 10:52, Jesus says these words to Bartimaeus, “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

After healing the Samaritan leper, we read in Luke 17:19, “Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

All these reminders of people having faith can lead us to feeling that we should not have any doubts or that if we have doubts, there is something wrong with us. Our doubts are reminders that we are human. Our doubts provide the opportunity and the foundation for our faith.

Instead of focusing on our doubts, we are being challenged to lock eyes with Jesus. Our doubts bring our head down, and in order to lock eyes with Jesus, we must lift our head up. Look around and look up. It is then that we are reminded of what is written in Luke 7:22-23, “Then he told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.’ And he added, ‘God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.’”

Each of us has a story of faith to tell. We have experiences where God shows up. It is up to us to keep our eyes up and know that God shows up. He shows up right on time to remind us that our doubts are the foundation of the faith that makes us well.

Lead well. Love better.

Jeff

Jeffrey Swarr is a baseball coach, author, and educator dedicated to helping others unlock their potential through mindset, resilience, leadership, and positive self-talk. A seasoned high school head baseball coach and author of works such as A Competitor’s Heart and The Daily Competitor, he shares daily insights on personal growth and purposeful living. Jeffrey strives to share his Christian faith with the students and athletes he is blessed to coach. He is married to Emily and the proud father of Simon, Spencer, and Shepherd.