Game Changers: Devotions for Families Who Play Different (Age 8-12)ნიმუში

Who’s Your Neighbor?

Ready: Luke 10:25–37

Set:

Jesus taught another parable (a story to help us understand a truth) to help us understand just who our neighbor is. (Hint: it’s more than just someone in our neighborhood.) Jesus had just talked about the importance of loving God with all we are. Then He said we should also love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But who is our neighbor, if not someone who lives across the street? The parable helps us understand.

The story starts with a man traveling. He encounters some bad guys, and he’s attacked, beaten, and robbed. Two people from his general community, whom you would expect to help him, ignored him instead. But then a stranger from another community, one that didn’t even get along with the robbed man’s community, came along. He helped the man by bandaging his wounds and taking him somewhere safe; he even paid for someone to watch over him. That stranger acted as the injured man’s neighbor, even though they had never met.

As Jesus’ followers, that’s how we are to live—helping those who need help and sharing His love with everyone we meet. We don’t decide whether to treat someone with respect and love based on whether they are popular, a good player, or someone we’ve always known. Because we follow Jesus, we are to show kindness, patience, truth, and love to everyone we encounter.

Go:

1. Why do you think it feels hard to be kind, especially to people we don’t know?
2. In sports, how can we give our best but also be respectful to players on the other team? How can we show love to officials? Our coaches? Our teammates?
3. What does it mean to love others as you love yourself? How would you rate yourself at that?

Workout:

Ephesians 4:32; Luke 6:31; John 15:12

Overtime:

“I don’t always want to be kind. Please forgive me for that. Give me a desire to help others and to include and be kind to everyone, even those who are hard to like. Thank You for teaching us how to treat others, now help us to be like You. In Your name, amen.”

Author of D1 Dad:

Greg Vandagriff is a multiple championship-winning high school football coach and the author of D1 Dad: Perspectives from a father and coach on how families can thrive in travel sports. His Prince Avenue football team won Georgia state championships in 2020, 2022, & 2023 and were runners-up in 2021.

Greg has coached at football camps and coaching clinics across the U.S. and internationally in England, Scotland, and France. He also coached his own children in their athletic endeavors. He desires to not only be the best coach he can be, but to be a shaper of men through his coaching.

Sports are an important part of Greg’s life, but he is most passionate about his faith, which has helped shape him from a boy in a challenging childhood situation to a coach of coaches. His faith in God is the foundation of his life, his family, and all he does. He first became involved in FCA while in high school, serving from his high school Huddle his sophomore through senior year. In college, he served at FCA camp and then sponsored a Huddle at Cobb County.

Sports have become a family business for the Vandagriff family. Greg and his wife, Kelly, have three children. Anna plays volleyball at Eastern Kentucky University. Brock plays football, as quarterback, for the University of Kentucky. Audrey is a high school senior who will play softball in college for the University of Alabama.

To learn more about Greg and his family, check them out here.