Just another post in our Share your Faith series
"so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well."
-- 1 Thessalonians 2:8
Hockey is a team sport and being part of a team is almost like being part of a family......almost. If you sit down to think about it, you are with your teammates quite a bit. You practice with them. You spend lots of time with them in the locker room. You probably will see some of your teammates outside of the rink. If you play on travel teams, you are with them on the road. Any way you slice it up, it's safe to say you are with your teammates more than you might think.
Paul, the writer of the verse above, had many "teammates" as well. He would often write them letters to encourage, teach, and train them. Paul tells us a lot in this one little verse about how he felt about his "teammates" living in Thessolinica.
1. He Cared for them
Do you care for your teammates? Or, do you just go to the rink and wish you were home as quick as possible? Do you truly have a heart for who your teammates are as people?
2. He Loved them so much
Do you Love your teammates or do you hate them? Think about your heart for a moment because many times we can act as if we are loving our teammates, but deep down we don't really love them. So ask yourself if you really are loving them.
3. He Delighted in sharing the Gospel with them
Do you share with your teammates? Are you embarrassed of what they might think? Beyond that, do you share your faith out of duty or delight?
3. He Delighted in sharing his life with them
It is on this point we want to hone in for the rest of this post. If you go through the list of how we should approach our teammates provided by Paul, we can see that we need to invest a good deal of our heart into them. We need to care for them, we need to love them, we need to share the Gospel with them, but above all, we need to prove all of that by sharing our life. There was a study done that showed people remember 20% of what they hear and 50% of what they see and hear. People will always being watching and if you tell people about your faith, but don't share your life of that faith with them....it tends to ring hollow. Further, if you say your believe XYZ, you better be living XYZ. And that means truly caring for those around you (YOUR TEAMMATES), actively loving them, and delighting in sharing your story.
Questions:
Are you going through the motions with your teammates?
What are some ways you can share your LIFE with them?
