Children often demonstrate far more relational wisdom than adults.
Simply compare the bullying scandal in the Miami Dolphins locker room [1] with the remarkable sensitivity shown to a learning-disabled teen by the Olivet Eagles, a middle school football team from Olivet, Michigan.
Watch this short clip [2], and these kids will show you how dying to yourself brings far more joy than bending others to your will.
Wide-receiver Justice Miller does a beautiful job describing the life-altering effect of discerning and meeting the needs of others:
“I kinda went from being somebody who mostly cares about myself and my friends to caring about everyone and trying to make everyone’s day and everyone’s life.”
Is there someone you could love this way today? Do it and see if you don’t end up like both Justice and Keith, with a smile that no one can wipe off your face.
– Ken Sande
Reflection Questions:
- What brings you more lasting joy: getting what you want for yourself, or sacrificing so that others will be blessed?
- Why do you think that blessing others brings us so much joy?
- The holiday season is a time of great relational pain and needs. Think of someone you can reach out to repeatedly in the weeks ahead and plan how to bless that person the same way the Olivet Eagles blessed Keith Orr.
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© 2013 Ken Sande
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