Be a fan

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayer for all of you, I always pray with joy…” Philippians 1:3-4

I realised I’m not a real fan of the Australian Cricket Team. They’re the team I go for, but I always expect them to win and I’m quick to rubbish them when they are doing poorly.

Lately I’ve considered how much I enjoy being a real fan of people. There are quite a few people in my life that I consider myself to be a fan of. I’m not talking about famous people that I look up to, but people in my life that I easily believe in and look forward to the successes of.

It actually gives me a whole lot of joy to be a fan of people I know. It blesses me to see the best in people and to watch their potential unfold. A few times now I’ve seen that happen and felt that excitement for someone else for the future ahead of them.

Now that I realise that it brings me joy to see the best in others, I like to consider how I could deliberately favour people, by speaking well of them to others, by praying for them, or by encouraging them personally.

I get the sense from Paul’s letters in the Bible that he was a real fan of some of the people in his life. He wrote about the joy of thinking of them, praying for them and seeing them. Paul likened it to the joys of parenthood, believing in people as if he was their own father cheering from the sidelines and celebrating their victories.

It has done my heart good to believe in people. If I can honestly enjoy another person’s journey and be excited about someone else’s potential then it is going to multiply joy in my life. Enjoying others’ success is way better than envying it.

Who are you a fan of?

PS – Joy became part of our family today. We have a new member of the family in the form of a beautiful little bunny. Josiah suggested the name ‘Joy’ and Zoe suggested ‘Lily’. Sarah decided on ‘Joy Lily’. Of course I love the name. Certainly a year of joy for the Gee family.