ElevatedSample

If you’ve ever been either on a sports team or a fan of one, you’ll know there is nothing quite like the feeling of a fan rivalry. To sit in a stadium full of the opposing team’s supporters while yelling your support for your team, or hyping yourself up to play the one team that stands in the way of your championship. If you’re not a sports fan, you’ve probably seen the way rivalries play out in other areas of our lives as well—coworkers who compete for each project or promotion, friends who try to bake the best chocolate chip cookies on the block, or even clubs who work to finish a crafting project before anyone else comes close.

For many of us, these kinds of competitions don’t always seem to bring out our best selves. We get caught up in the desire to win, and in doing so, we sort of forget to see the humanity in the other person. Your competitor stops being a friend and starts being an enemy to overcome. We begin to treat our friends and family members, even full-blown strangers, in a way that’s opposite of who we are meant to be. It’s natural to get a little caught up in competition; however, we still need to remember who we are and what we are meant for.

What’s one thing you can say to yourself when you feel like treating another person in a way that you know isn’t acceptable to God?