The winter Olympic events are always spectacular to watch, but this year something else caught my eye – the Norwegian Ski Team. Although they compete in mostly individual sports, they move, practice and live as a bonded team. They provide an unique example of the power of camaraderie and the beauty of selflessly working together.

 

The New York times called the Norwegian team “a contrarian mix of humility, egalitarianism and basic respect.” In a society that tends to be all about self – the Norwegian team is an inspiring example of thinking of others. At this point, Norway leads the world in gold medals and overall medals.

 

One of Norway’s gold medalist in men’s team ski-jumping, Robert Johansson said, “I really like the team competitions. I think we’re really good friends, travelling a lot of days during the year together.”  The team shares meals with one another and spend about 250 days together every year. That’s a lot of togetherness!

 

There’s an incalculable strength that comes from the bond of a team. Cheering one another on and going the extra mile to help another person succeed is true teamwork. Teams strengthen one another and hold each other accountable. When you are a part of a team, you are working for something much bigger than yourself – you don’t want to let your fellow team mates down.

 

An old African proverbs says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

 

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” That’s true teamwork!

 

Think about ways that you tend to try to achieve on your own. Are there people God has placed in your life with whom you can join together and encourage? How can the power of a team transform the work He has called you to do?

 

Photo by Joris Berthelot on Unsplash