LOVED:

A Christian Team Devotional About Encouraging Others

God is loving. I am deeply loved. So I can love others well.

One of the greatest truths we can teach our girls is that they don’t have to compete for love, attention, approval, or worth. Before they ever did anything to earn it, God loved them. Not because they’re great volleyball players. Not because they made the team, get good grades, have lots of friends, or are funny, pretty, athletic, talented, or successful. God loves them simply because they are His.

Romans 8:38–39 tells us that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God. Think about what that means for a teenage girl. She can have the best game of her life—and God loves her. She can have the worst game of her life—and God loves her. She can make the team or get cut. Start or sit on the bench. Feel confident or completely insecure. Have a hundred friends or feel like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. None of it changes how loved she is by God. His love isn’t something she has to earn, and it isn’t something she can lose.

And when a girl really begins to believe that, it changes the way she sees herself—and the girls around her.

Comparison comes so naturally, especially in sports. She’s better than me. Why does she get to play? Why did Coach praise her? Why can’t I serve like she does? Comparison can make someone else’s success feel like evidence of our own inadequacy. But when our worth is secure in God’s love, we don’t have to compete for it. Someone else being amazing doesn’t make you less amazing. Someone else being celebrated doesn’t mean there is less love left for you.

You are already loved.

And because you know there is enough love for you, you are free to give that love away. You can celebrate the girl who succeeds. Encourage the girl who is struggling. Include the girl who feels left out. Build someone back up after she makes a mistake.

That’s where this week’s second verse comes in. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to encourage one another and build each other up.

Be a noticer.

Notice the teammate who just made a mistake and needs someone to tell her, “You’ve got this.” Notice the girl who seems quieter than usual. Notice the person standing by herself. Notice when someone finally gets the skill she’s been working so hard on. Notice someone’s effort, kindness, courage, or growth—and then say it out loud.

Our words have power. Something that takes us five seconds to say can stay with someone much longer than we realize. So instead of constantly walking into a room wondering, How am I doing? What do people think of me? Do I belong here? I want our girls to learn to look around and ask, Who can I build up today?

This Week’s Challenge

Encourage someone every day. Be specific. Be genuine. Look for the good—and don’t just think something kind, say it.

For this devotional, I also made small keychains for the girls to give away. I wanted them to do more than hear a lesson about encouragement; I wanted them to actually practice it. Each girl can choose someone who might need a reminder that she is loved, valued, or seen and give her a keychain along with a few encouraging words.

It’s a simple way to start a chain of encouragement: receive the reminder, believe the truth, and then pass it on.

Who God Is → Who I Am → How I Live

God is LOVING. — 1 John 4:8
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I am LOVED. — Romans 8:38–39
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I can ENCOURAGE others. — 1 Thessalonians 5:11

God’s not calling us to simply just  be nicer or encourage people more. Your actions need to come from something deeper.

Who God is teaches me who I am. And knowing who I am changes how I live.

God is loving, so I know I am deeply loved. And because I don’t have to compete for love or earn my worth, I am free to give that love away.

Be the girl who celebrates someone else’s success. Be the girl who notices when someone is struggling. Be the girl who makes the people around her feel seen, valued, and loved.

Because you never have to wonder whether there is enough love for you.

You are already loved beyond measure. Now go make sure someone else knows she is loved, too.