FRIDAY - Devotional

READ: Romans 15:1-2

(Answer the question/s below in your app notes)

• How can you use your own strength in Christ to encourage others?

In the National Football League, or the NFL, 32 teams compete each fall to win enough games to make it to the big finale of the season: the Super Bowl. Teams earn their way into the postseason mostly based on their regular-season records, with the strongest teams advancing to the playoff games. After several rounds, only two teams remain—and those teams face off in the Super Bowl.

But what happens to the teams that do the worst? The ones that finish the season with losing records?

The NFL tries to even out the playing field. Each year, the teams with the worst records get the earliest picks in the NFL Draft, where they can choose new players coming out of college. Teams that had the best seasons usually pick last.

This system gives struggling teams a chance to rebuild and improve. This concept is called equity, or making sure that everyone gets the help they need to be given a fair shot. Did you know that the Bible discusses this a lot? Jesus constantly talks about elevating and protecting the people in society who have it the most unfair and hard: the widows, the orphans, and the poor. Paul also talks about this concept in Romans 15 by imploring the congregation to empathize with those who are struggling. Paul says that if you are strong, you have an obligation to build up the weak. What do you think that means for us today? This week, spend time in prayer asking God to show you ways to encourage, support, or stand up for people who don’t have it as easy as you do.