WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD ...Superbowl confidence

We all just sat through yet another great Superbowl Sunday! It doesn't really matter if you were rooting for the Colts or the Saints, the excitement to me was watching the two top teams of the NFL for this year. They pushed their way past some tough games along the way and together as a team, they proved to be the #1 and #2 teams of the season.

Being on a winning team almost always requires various team members to show confidence in each other's abilities. Each teammate possesses a certain ability that brings momentum to their team. Most likely if a quarterback is afraid to pass the ball, he will probably get sacked or lead his team to a big loss. When I think about a star player that possessed great confidence in the Bible, I think about the apostle Paul.

2 TIMOTHY 1:8-9 "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, (9) who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time."

Paul was not afraid to "pass the ball".  When he encountered young Timothy, Timothy had some undeveloped skills - but Paul encouraged young Timothy and eventually passed the ball to him. This confidence that Paul had in Timothy was expressed not only in words but in actions as well.

In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question: "When you were young, what did you excel in?" The top 3 answers were...

1. 27% of those polled said that they excelled at talking nonstop!
2. 18% of those voting said that they excelled at bringing home stray animals.
3. Another 18% voted and said that they excelled at having the ability to survive childhood accidents.

It is funny to think about some of the things that we were so good at when we were youngsters, but think about it, those things that we excelled at when young probably led us into some things that we are confident about today as adults. For example: If you were part of that 27% that excelled at talking nonstop, then I wonder if your confidence today as an adult is in communication?

As a christian, I believe that some of us have that "superbowl confidence" much like Paul had. Each of us knows someone like Timothy who wants to be part of the team. We each have the ability to pour ourselves into teammates such as our Timothy's and pass the ball of encouragement onto them one day.

Think about this...Timothy was able to contribute to God's work because Paul had the confidence to "hand the ball off to him". Is there someone in your life that needs to have alittle confidence expressed to them? How about expressing alittle SUPERBOWL confidence to your fellow teammates.

We are all on the same team. God's team! I have read the final book of the Bible and we are on the WINNING team!