I was having coffee with one of the women athletes at Georgia this week and we were discussing her team Bible study and why it was hard to get some of her teammates to come. Student athletes are busy, no doubt, but sometimes tutor sessions, practices, TV-watching, going downtown or sleeping are not the only reasons given for not coming to a team study. Sometimes the reason is “I don’t know much about the Bible” or “I’m afraid I won’t know as much as the people there and feel stupid.” 

Now I know that there are not too many people interested in studying the Bible, but when I hear this as a reason for not participating in our Bible studies on campus, I get a little frustrated. Then, this young woman I was having coffee with said something that helped me to see things from a different perspective. She said, “It’s just awkward-prevention, Jill. No one wants to be in situations where they may feel uncomfortable or in situations they haven’t experienced before.” 

I stumbled upon this passage in Scripture and I realized something. If an athlete never comes to a study in the 4-5 years she’s here, it’s okay. God doesn’t need our ministry to reach people with His love. He just calls us to love those around us and faithfully live out the truths of the Bible. You’ve heard the old saying, “No one cares how much you know unless they know how much you care.” Perhaps the lesson of this quote really came from here…

1 Corinthians 13:1-7

“If I speak the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 
And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; it is not boastful; is not conceited; does not act improperly; is not selfish; is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs; finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”