Soul-Training: The Why, What, and How of Spiritual Formation in Sports

Sportspeople know how to train and prepare their bodies for competition. The question this article seeks to explore is how sportspeople should approach training and preparing their souls. The Willardian corpus provides sportspeople a framework for understanding spiritual formation. This article examines the “why,” “what,” and “how” of soul-training, how Christians in sports can engage in spiritual formation. Sportspeople train their souls to experience God’s presence and worship him on and off the competition stage (why). In order to do so, they train their souls by following Christ as his apprentices, leading to transformation into his likeness (what) by cooperating with the Holy Spirit through intentional practice of spiritual disciplines (how). Spiritual disciplines are repeated practices of the mind, body, and heart that rely on God the Father, cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and are directed by Christ. Applications and examples of spiritual disciplines for sportspeople are provided.