Collins states that Wooden’s “personal principles empowered him to have the great influence he exerted, both on and off the court.”

What made the difference in his life was an item that he kept in his wallet.

It was a piece of paper that Wooden's father gave him when he was only twelve. Tattered and worn, it was his constant companion and source of guiding principles. Here’s how it read:

Be true to yourself.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Help others.

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

Make friendship a fine art.

Build shelter against a rainy day.

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day

Collins considers one of the greatest people who have ever lived and inquires: “If the Apostle Paul had owned a wallet, what would he have kept in it?  What were his guiding principles, his compass points, his fundamental beliefs?”

Philippians 3:8-14, Collins suggests, is a passage of Scripture that could reflect the Apostle’s guiding principles:

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

To gain Christ and be found in Him, declared righteous through faith in Christ, looking forward to the resurrection that Christ guaranteed by His own, and pressing on toward the goal of eternal life through Christ – these are the greatest and eternal values upon which each of us should live our lives.

The basis for this hope lay in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:23).

God has promised to save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk by the “principles” (the Truth) of His Word (1 John 1:7).

What’s in your wallet?  What are your guiding principles?

Won’t YOU follow Jesus and be saved?