Daily Devotional

Being born and raised in Chicago, I’ve always been a Chicago Bears fan. Because Chicago is right on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin, we had a few Packer fans at our church in Chicago. Everyone in our church knew Jenn, me and the kids loved the Bears. We were on our way home from church one Sunday and I asked our kids what they learned in Sunday School. They showed me their coloring page of Jesus calming the storm, and the only colors on the picture were green and yellow. I asked, “Why did you only color with green and yellow crayons?” They said, “The teacher wouldn’t give us any other colors.” I said, “Who’s the teacher?” They said, “Terry Sutton.” Terry was a good friend of mine, even though he’s a HUGE Packer fan. I thought, “That explains it.” I went and asked Terry about it, and he said, “I’m trying to teach them to be Packer fans!”

Well, in 2003 God called us to Madison, Wisconsin for me to become the Senior Pastor at Lake Wisconsin Church. And if you know anything about Wisconsin residents, there’s only one sports team that matters to them, and that is the Green Bay Packers. When the search team hired me as Pastor, they said I needed to remember two things: First, “Don’t crack any jokes against the Packers from the pulpit”, and second, “Don’t preach long when the Packers kick-off at noon.”

Two of my three kids were born in Chicago so cheering for Chicago teams was never a problem for them. I got a little nervous with my third, Alan, because he was born in Wisconsin. If anyone had a reason to cheer for the Packers, it was him. But, because we were bringing our kids up in the things of the Lord, we taught them to cheer for the Bears, even while living in enemy territory (Packer country). They were loyal Bear fans.

In Madison, WI, the kids' schools would have ‘Packer Day’, when all the students would dress in the jersey of their favorite Packer player. All three of my kids would wear their Bears’ jerseys that day…Brian Urlacher, Devin Hester, and Jay Cutler. They would get ridiculed, but they didn’t care. They were loyal Bear fans.

One time Alan’s 2nd grade teacher asked the kids to paint a picture of their favorite Packer player. Once the paintings were done, they would be displayed in the hallway outside the classroom for parent night coming up that week. When we came for parent night, we walked down the hall looking at all these paintings of Packer players, and all the way down at the very end was one painting of a player in a dark blue and orange jersey. We looked and it was a Chicago Bear player. Who did the painting? Alan Erickson. I was so proud of our loyal Bear fan!

What is loyalty? Loyalty is being there for someone through the highs and lows. Loyalty is accepting and loving someone for who they are and not threatening to leave when things get tough. Loyalty is being consistent in how you treat one another. Loyalty is being someone people can count on.

Applying that kind of loyalty to being a Bear fan means cheering for them despite many lousy teams, their infrequent appearances in the playoffs, and of course the number of times they’ve been beaten by the Packers.

Applying that kind of loyalty to a marriage means honoring your vows to your spouse. The vows I made to Jenn went like this: “I, Brian, take you, Jenn, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part.” And she made the same vows to me.

Applying that kind of loyalty to friendship means being there for your friend no matter what happens. Accepting that person with all of their strengths and weaknesses. And being consistent in your love and kindness toward that person.

Applying that kind of loyalty as a church member means you don’t give up on your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote the following to the church at Ephesus:

Ephesians 4:1–2
1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.

When you are being loyal in the church…

1. You express your appreciation for one another, finding ways to encourage one another.
2. You offer help when a person is struggling, walking with them through their tough times.
3. You pray for people who are struggling, knowing prayer is the greater work of ministry.
4. You guard against gossip, knowing some things are meant to be kept just between you.
5. You follow-through on your commitments. If you say you’re going to do something, you do it.
6. You offer direction based on Scripture, always desiring what’s best for them.
7. You listen. And you respond fairly. And you are always willing to hear a different perspective.

To make relationships last for the long haul, you have to be loyal. Being humble, gentle, patient, and tolerant helps us build stronger bonds. So let’s be loyal! And Go Bears!

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation