I grew up in a relatively small town in Arkansas and played just about every sport that was offered. One of the things that our coaches would say was “There is no I in team.” The coaches were not just spewing clichés. We, at a young age, had to understand that we needed to rely on one another to win in team sports.
One of the most important mind sets a team can have is that of being positive. A positive, uplifting attitude will help players to play their best in whatever the sport. If the player next to me messed up a play, instead of berating him, we were taught to encourage. While we all had individual roles, we were able to better appreciate victory and to cope with defeat when we cared about one another and built each other up.
The Apostle Paul seemed to understand the concept of working together. At the conclusion 1st Thessalonians, Paul urged the Christian in Thessolonica to “…encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1) While we have an individual responsibility to “study to show ourselves approved” (2 Timothy 2:15), we have to realize the importance in edifying one another. The Hebrew writer tied this encouragement in with worship. When we look at Hebrews 10:24, we see that we are to stir one another up for good works. Life is hard enough with constant temptation. Instead of working at life alone, let's work together, help each other, uplift each other, and be the best "teammates" we can be so that we can all go to heaven.
Have you encouraged someone lately? If not, go out of your way today to let a brother or sister in Christ know that you appreciate them.
Let us strive to edify one another how God would have us to.
