Flag Football of Life

Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.
Acts 20:1

Have you been to a little kid’s flag football game? Have you seen, or heard, the moms on the sidelines? I’m referring to the particular mom with her face painted in support of her son’s team, loosing her mind as she cheers for them. Whether he’s playing like a pro or making fumbles and loosing flags, she is shouting encouragement at the top of her lungs for her “baby” and the boys on his team. Well, minus the face painting, although that may be just around the corner, that crazy hollering Mom is me. One of my favorite responsibilities as a mother is being a cheerleader, if you will, for each of my children. This year my son started playing flag football. On Saturdays during the season, we would load up the family, the cooler, and the chairs to go and cheer our hearts out for the little Rams. Win or loose, I was there cheering them on!

I’ve never been to a game and heard a mom scolding or tearing down her son when he lost a flag or fumbled the ball. This is probably a good thing, because I would loose my mind over that! It isn’t the norm to hear a parent yelling at their son things like, “What are you thinking” or “Good job, you looser”. On the contrary, moms are usually throwing encouragement onto the field the entire game with comments like, “Great try”, “You can do it”, or “You’ll get the next one, buddy”.

Life can sometimes be like a flag football game. We can often times be running down the field, in the middle of a great play, only to have Satan snatch our flag. It could be many different flags, like that of joy, peace, or purpose. We can feel discouraged and defeated and have the tendency to throw in the towel. We’ve all had those times and the most encouraging thing we can hear from the sidelines is the cheers from other believers. Just that little "verbal nudge" to get up and try again can be all that’s needed to keep us from throwing in the towel and giving up.

There are always people around us on the field of life who have lost a flag. It isn’t our job as a fellow follower of Christ, to say things like, “What were you thinking” or “I cannot believe you just did that”. We are called to “encourage one another and build each other up”. (1 Thess. 5:11) We need to be the cheerleaders in the lives of those around us.

This verse in Acts says, “Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, Paul gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope”. This is the kind of “teammate” I desire to be. As I am traveling through this journey of life, I want to give constant encouragement to others, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope. No matter what they do or how hard they fall, I want to be a person that takes the time to lift them up and invigorates them to “get back in the game”!

I am confident that you have this same desire. Let’s be intentional this week as we are in this, sometimes hard, game of life, to uplift those that are down and encourage those that have had a flag snatched by the enemy. Let’s run down the field of life together, remembering we are on the same team and the score is already been determined. Oh, and just for the record, we win!

Lord, help me this week to be a person that builds others up. Help me to be used by you to instill fresh hope in those that are down. Help me to be a cheerleader for those running alongside me for Your glory and help my voice to be louder than the jeers that may be coming from those that are trying to discourage and tear us down.

In Him~
Tammy…

You can read more from Tammy at Steps in Our Journey