Am I Team Me or Team God?
Am I Team Me or Team God?
Recently I read an article in Unwritten.com by Laura Van De Walle, 6 Important Things Team Sports Taught Me in Life.
I never played team sports as a child, and spilling into adulthood, I would hear the phrase "team player" a lot. While I am uber-competitive, the competitive nature tends to fall on team me with the players me, myself, and I.
Because I did not partake in team sports, I think I messed some valuable lessons shared by Laura Van de Walle:
How/when to lead
How/when to listen
How to take criticism
How to lose
Confidence
Teamwork
How/When to Lead:
There are times when leading is essential. As well, there are times when taking a back seat and trusting others is imperative. Letting God take the wheel and trusting His judgment in our lives is needed to drive our growth. I am taken back to the driver's training, where the instructor reached over, grabbed the wheel, and steered us from danger. Trust was required of me in that situation and is needed in me today.
How/When to Listen:
Sometimes listening to God is difficult. I am so busy living my life that I forget to humble myself, be still, and listen. Or other times, God is sending His messages loud and clear, and I refuse to listen.
How to Take Criticism:
God's gentle hand corrects us in His word. It is the reason we read a verse and learn something new we did not see in a prior read. Or sometimes, when we read God's word, we see God speaking to us and giving us gentle correction of where we may be falling short.
How to lose:
As Christians, we are to lose ourselves and live in Christ (Galatians 2:20). No longer do we live for our desires, but we live for Christ's glory (Luke 9:23); when we live to love others, we gain spiritual peace. Just like when we volunteer, we receive the benefit to our soul.
Gaining Confidence:
Psalm 146:3
Don't put your confidence in influential people; there is no help for you there.
Through God, we can gain confidence.
Psalm 146:5
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Jeremiah 17:7
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
By rooting our feet in God, our footing is firm, and our strength is solid.
Teamwork:
God created us to be Team God. All of us supporting one another, loving one another, growing together in God.
Ephesians 4:15-16
(15) Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (16) He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing full of love.
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper who is just right for him."
We are meant to be a team, together in God.
Let's join Team God: following God, listening to God, hearing his correction, losing ourselves to God, gaining confidence through God, and supporting each other as a team. Team God.
