Unconditional Love
Every once in a while you read something that makes you want to be the person God created you to be. The person you know you can be, but somehow you lose vision of as you get disconnected from the vine during the busyness of your day.
This happened to me yesterday when I read THIS STORY. Do yourself a favor and take two minutes to click on the link and read the whole story RIGHT NOW!
This all started when Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.
So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send:” Hogan wrote. “You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.”
Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan’s office and asked, “Coach, why are we doing this?”
And Hogan said, “Imagine if you didn’t have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”
Here’s what I can’t get out of my mind. What would it be like if the thousands of you who visit here every day decided to treat everyone in your life as if they were as valuable as anyone else on planet Earth? What if you were to believe in them and cheer them on even though they may not deserve it?
What kind of difference do you think we could make?
Kinda sounds like what Jesus had in mind. and since i died to myself to let Jesus take over in me…shouldn’t i be about looking for opportunities to search out stuff like this every single day?
@tracie, Bingo!
EXACTLY. We can make all the difference in a human being when we realize the redeeming value of each and every one. What a gut-wrenching yet inspiring story. A simple idea executed to the nth degree! And what do you suppose those fans from Faith got out of the experience? There are some amazing stories to come from this all the way around. Thank you for sharing! Love this!
Love this story, Pete! I posted about it a couple weeks ago at Prayers For Blowouts and I actually had the guy who originally wrote about it before Rick Reilly (David Thomas from the Fort Worth Star Telegram) email me.
I love it when I’m inspired to love!
(and if you or any of your readers enjoy stories like this, where sports and faith meet, I think they’ll enjoy my sports/faith blog Prayers For Blowouts).
This is how I want to live. It’s who I want to be. It’s what I pray for. I just don’t know HOW to be that person. I guess the key is, I’m not that person. But God can work through me. I just have to get out of the way. Again.
Awesome story. I want to learn to treat everyone that way. I know I can’t do it on my own though. I want others to see God’s love through me. Very cool.
I LOVED that story. I actually posted up a link once I saw your Twitter about it. Great story.
I immediately thought of two things : 1. ) wwjd and 2) what a wonderful world it would be !
- thanks for being so thought provoking :0
I love that story!
The only other thing that I can say is that these song lyrics by Chris Tomlin came to mind:
“Love is the answer
Love will find a way
When we love one another
It’s a brighter day.”
=)
Ok this rocked me to the core! I don’t know if I could lead something like this again, but wow, I would love to be a part of something like it. I think self-serving “christians” must wake up (including me) and do this, with no expectation of return in mind. Thanks Pete.
Aww man, dude… you gotta give a hanky warning with these type of stories. Sitting at my desk on lunch break tearing up, may look a little unusual to the people around me.
Awesome story!!
What kind of difference could we make if we responded in this same way? A life-changing difference. Then those changed lives would pass it on through their lives. God, may each of us as believers in You who are loved and cheered on by YOU, cheer on the underdogs so that they will know they are loved as much as we know WE are…and may it change their lives.
lol, I think your blog host put the comment I just submitted in your spam moderation folder, Pete. I wasn’t thinking, and I included links to several other good news type stories I thought everyone might enjoy. Too many links = comment death. Oh well.
I think we don’t realize the difference we could make if we were to treat everyone as if they were valuable. Even if we exhibit half the kindness that those fans did towards everyone in our lives the impact would be beyond anything we could imagine.
I love it. You don’t have courage, I’ll lend you mine. You don’t have faith, you can borrow mine until yours gets stronger. We’ve got live these things! (I’m shouting at myself)
Where is this FAITH school??
Pete I hope you don’t mind, but I copied this from you and posted it over on Brain Drops. The story just spoke to my heart so much that I had to make sure it was shared.
@ unconditional grace, I don’t mind at all. I hope lots of people will repost it. Everyone needs to read this story!
Great story Pete. I had heard about this but had never read the whole story. What a reflection of Jesus: “when I was in prison you visited me.” They may not have been in prison but that team (teh church) visited them in a powerful way. May their tribe increase and may it begin with me.
I try to at least smile to everyone, even if they’re frowning at me.
fabulous story! thanks for sharing it. it really is the simple things we can do to let others know they are important. listen. i mean really listen (don’t be thinking about your response). make eye contact. go out of your way to tell someone the good qualities you see in them. there are so many wounded people walking around just dying to be affirmed.
Wow what a story, it reminds me that it really starts with one person deciding to make a difference. Truly the heart I so desire to have. Thanks so much for sharing.
@Seeker – Grapevine, TX http://www.fcschool.org
It’s a great story until I think about my own experience of the reality of exclusive, expensive “Christian” schools. A cynical person might suggest it was a great way to create some free publicity.
Wow, AMAZING story!! Reminds me of the movie “Gridiron Gang”, starring The Rock. I went to the ESPN web site and read the whole thing and was truly blown away that somebody would do that for those kids! And yes, I had to wipe away a few tears myself while reading it. If only I could remember to live that way everyday of my life! Thanks for telling us about it, Pete!
You need to warn people… have tissues nearby!
Our Sunday school class just committed to affirm and lift up those around us. It’s a small step but one that we hope will catch on at our church.
Just read the entire article. I would type a response, but I have a lump in my throat that won’t go away. Powerful stuff.
Thanks for sharing a great story. I’ve forwarded this to coaches in our family, yes, one is at OU, and other college coach friends.
Blessings today and always,
Kaye
Rev. 21:5
Matthew 21:22