Playing Partners
One of the great joys of golf is sharing the round with a good partner. Sure, you can play a solo round, but something is missing. A partner makes the experience richer—celebrating your birdies, helping you with excuses after bad shots, and giving you encouragement when you’re ready to leave after 5 holes. In many ways, our Christian walk works the same way: God never intended for us to walk alone.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 reminds us, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.” In golf, this might look like your playing partner helping you find a ball hidden in the rough. In our walk with Christ, it’s about having brothers and sisters who lift us when life’s burdens weigh us down, reminding us of the joy we have in our salvation.
The Apostle Paul traveled with companions like Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. He knew that encouragement and accountability came through fellowship. Likewise, Hebrews 10:24–25 urges us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together… but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Just as we are sharpened by a friend’s perspective on the golf course, we are strengthened in faith when we walk alongside others who share the same spiritual goals.
A golf partner also helps us see things we might miss. They can spot a glitch in our swing or caution us before making a risky shot. Spiritually, faithful companions help us recognize blind spots in our lives, gently pointing us back toward Christ when we stray. Proverbs 27:17 puts it plainly: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
The beauty of fellowship is that it’s reciprocal. Sometimes you’re the one who needs encouragement, and other times you’re the one who gives it. A round of golf played with a partner becomes a shared journey; so too, our walk with Christ grows richer when we share it with others.
So, cherish your golf partners—but cherish even more your spiritual companions in Christ. Both make the course ahead not only more manageable but far more meaningful.