“This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” — John 15:12
“We need to hustle out there.”
You’re barely able to catch your breath during the timeout as coach starts the timeout talking about the need to pick up the energy. Coach offers a few more insights and encouragement, but breaks the huddle with the same theme: “I want to see some hustle out there!”
Anytime a parent or coach starts and ends with the same command, you know it must be important!
This is exactly what Jesus is doing with His disciples in John 15:12-17. They’re in the huddle together with Jesus and He brackets the pep talk with the same command: love each other.
WARM-UP
Is there a consistent piece of advice that your coach (or parent) reiterates to you?
How coachable are you on a scale of 1-10? Explain.
WORKOUT
Love Your Teammates
See if this sounds familiar: An individual gets recruited to be a part of a team of twelve. The team is filled with members from very different backgrounds. They have a common goal they all strive together towards. Over the course of a few years, they experience growth personally, spiritually and skillfully. The team has some incredible highs and lows together. For the most part, they get along, but have some normal relational qualms—some arguments even center around who is the best on the team. And they all look to one person for direction and training.
Jesus’ disciples were a team. In John 15:12-17, He huddles them up and gives them a command two separate times: love each other. This team, made up of individuals, was tasked by Jesus to prove their commitment to the team by loving each other. The same command echoes to us today.
But in a world with billions of people, who are we tasked with showing daily love to? A good place to start would be the people that God has put in front of you for multiple hours each day. A people group who shares the same goal, that you experience highs and lows together and maybe even argue from time to time!
God wants you to love your teammates.
It’s not by accident that you are together. Perhaps God placed you on the same team so that you can win whatever title you are chasing. But you can be certain of one thing: God has you where you are at, with the people you are with, for however long you are with them, so that they can experience God’s love for them through you.
Q: Do you think it is easy or hard (or both) to love your teammates? Why?
Q: What might it look like to practically show love to a teammate?
Love Those Who Go Unnoticed
While Jesus could not be more clear in John 15 that we should love each other, much of His ministry was spent loving people on the margins as well. If we want to love like Jesus, we will also choose to love those who go unnoticed.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus is tired from traveling and sits down at a well. A Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water and Jesus engages her in conversation (John 4:7). This was not normal. The woman knew it and asked why Jesus would talk with her. And in case the original audience didn’t know this was taboo, John 4:9 even says “Jews do not associate with Samaritans.”
While it may have been a shock for others, this was vintage Jesus. He always engaged with people that the rest of society deemed insignificant, marginalized and unworthy. Jesus made time for the unpopular and unnoticed. Even though He commanded His disciples (and us) to love each other, watching the very life of Jesus helps us understand that “each other” is not limited to those we get along with or the popular crowd. Each other means everyone—especially those that we often ignore.
Who are the unnoticed in sport? Here is a short list to get you thinking about the people that Jesus would notice, move towards and love within the context of sports: the injured athlete, the one at the end of the bench or the one who just got cut. The maintenance worker who cuts the grass, cleans the pool, dusts the floor or rakes the dirt. The referee who spent the entire game getting yelled at by coaches and parents. The athlete on the opposing team who had a tough game. Jesus loved those that others ignored. We’re proven when we choose to do the same.
Q: Who comes to mind when you think of someone who is unnoticed in your life?
Q: How can you show love to someone who is unnoticed?
WRAP-UP We’re proven by who we love.
Jesus says multiple times to love one another.
It makes most sense to love those who we see every day (teammates).
We must also love those who go unnoticed.
Key Action: Go out of your way to love a teammate and someone who goes unnoticed this week.