Brotherly Kindness

READ: John 17:20-22
THINK: What would it mean for our tennis team to be “one?”
PRAY: For the unity and brotherhood of this team.

While we begin the maturity process by realizing there is more to life than ourselves, it takes a little while to put that into practice. But now, in the end of the process, we are back around to specifically focusing on others again.

Brotherly kindness (the Greek word is Philadelphia) is literally treating others as if they are family. We extend the kindness to others that we would extend to family.

Another way of saying this might be: we extend our family.

I see the tennis team, throughout the years that I've been coaching especially, as one large brotherhood. You are all my little brothers. I want to see you succeed in tennis, my heart rises and sinks with your matches as it did when I watched my own brother compete.

And I care about more than just tennis in your lives as well. I want to spare you from the heartbreak of bad decisions, support you through your worst times, and celebrate graduation with you. But I'll continue to follow your future success in college, whether playing tennis or not. I love to make contact with players I used to coach: Colin Yoder, Jordan Kauffman, Daniel Buschert, and others.

I tell you this because I hope you will adopt this way of thinking, this brotherly kindness as well. I hope that you will have this family attitude for those who have come before you, who will play with you, and who will play after you. I hope this year's seniors reach out to their little brothers, this year's freshman.

We’re called as Christians to live a life that extends a family type of care to everyone. It is difficult, because there are some people that we don’t like. And we won’t accomplish it all the time. But it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be on our minds and hearts. And what I’d ask is that today you start small. See the tennis team as a part of your family, then you can work on continuing to extend it when school starts, and on and on through the many years you have left to live!

Tennis brings us together, but we will be a family.

We will look over each other with kindness and concern. We will be brothers.