[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The winning team (2)

By Oke Chinye

Read: 1 Cor 12: 17-20

Meditation verse:

“If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling” (1 Corinthians 12:17)

A winning team consists of members who do not have similar skills, abilities, or temperament, but diverse talents. Leadership expert John Maxwell said: “Great things happen when all the players on the team take the role that maximizes their strengths”. Research shows that the most successful teams are made up of a diverse mix of behaviours. Each member respects the other’s uniqueness, whilst playing in his/her own strength. In a marriage team, the man and woman have different strengths, and none is inferior to the other.

Everyone is a valuable member and contributes towards the accomplishment of the goal. When one fails to do its part, the whole team suffers because there is a vacuum. For instance, in a football team, if the attacker or goalkeeper is absent, there is a problem. Ephesians 4:16 says “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”. And it’s always about teamwork. The language is ‘our’, not ‘me’ or ‘my’. When one person wins, everyone wins, and when one person loses, everyone loses. Benefits are also to be shared just as responsibilities are shared.

A winning team must have a leader. A ship without a captain is a rudderless one.

The leader determines the climate, culture, and vision of the team. He or she ensures that the vision is followed and that tasks are carried out, and sees to the wellbeing of everyone. In a marriage, the leader is the husband, in a church, the leader is the pastor, in a work setting, the leader maybe the manager or CEO.

Lastly, a winning team is progressive and not stagnant. Yesterday’s wins are not today’s victories. A winning team always looks for new grounds to conquer. The reason why some marriages are dead is the lack of a vision. As a husband/leader in your home, what are you working towards? What is your vision for your wife and your family? Where there is no vision, there is decline and eventually death – dead marriages, dead churches, dead communities, and dead nations.