Let’s revisit the story of baseball player Trea Turner. A star player, hired by the Philadelphia Phillies with great fanfare and a huge contract, wasn’t producing deep into the season. So a radio broadcaster organized a “standing ovation” for Trea on August 4. The initial reports were that “it” worked, and he was suddenly doing better. Then what?

After the standing ovation on August 4, Turner began a ten-game hitting streak. In the 48 games after the ovation, Turner batted .337 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. On August 19, 2023, in a 12–3 win against the Washington Nationals, Turner became the third player in Phillies history to hit two home runs in the same inning. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trea_Turner#Philadelphia_Phillies

The Phillies made it into the playoffs as a wild card, and as I write, they are one win away from going to the World Series. In the playoffs, Trea has a team-leading 0.378 batting average with 3 home runs and 5 doubles. That 5-minute standing ovation back in August was a good investment indeed!

I should point out that if the discipline and skill aren’t there, all the affirmation in the world isn’t going to help. But in our case, every believer you meet has been:

• chosen by God (Ephesians 1.4)
• indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.4 – 7)
• created in Christ Jesus for good works. (Ephesians 2.10)

Maybe we ought to be giving each other standing ovations…for future fruitfulness!

Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12.10, ESV)