Devotional

Caring Deeply

Ready 

“So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats. It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God.” – Romans 14:19-22a

Set 

Do you care for your teammates? For most of you, these are the people you interact with daily and spend hours learning, growing, failing and succeeding with.

How, then, do you care for your teammates? Yes, making each other laugh, sharing food, and even giving rides to friends is good. However, God calls us to care even deeper for one another. We are called to build one another up and help them not stumble as we walk through life.

I had a teammate who struggled deeply with body image and self-worth. She constantly compared herself to others and spoke poorly about how she looked. Once one off-handed comment was made about someone’s appearance, I could see her shrink back and start examining herself.

I had to be careful around this friend to help her not stumble. I needed to make sure I was not praising appearances but inner qualities. Even though I did not struggle with these thoughts, I knew she did. To show care for this friend, I tried my best to build her up and not cause anything to make her stumble.

The above story is just one example of how we can care for our friends and teammates. Whether your teammates struggle with confidence, lust, drinking, cursing, anxiety or something else, we are called to help them not fall into their struggles.

To care for one another is to build them up in Christ and bring them closer to Him through your friendship.

Go 
  • What is your stumbling block?
  • How could teammates care for you and help you not stumble?
  • To care for someone, you must get to know them. Do you know your friends deeply? If not, why?
Overtime 

“Lord God, we are blessed to have people in our life to care for. Thank You for giving us friends, family, and teammates with whom we can walk this earth. Help us not to have surface-level friendships but to dive deep together and lift up one another. Please give us eyes to see what our friends are struggling with and give us a heart that wants to help. Amen.”