Elite Series
The person who knows the most about how to succeed at this level is not going to help you.
Not because they are an inherently bad person. Because you are competing with them for something — a roster spot, a starting position, a role that only one person can fill — and helping you improve your chances of getting it is not in their competitive interest. The veteran sees you clearly. You are the threat that the organization brought in.
Read this passage slowly.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
Romans 12:17 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Do not repay evil for evil. The veteran’s withholding is not evil in the strong sense — it is competitive self-protection that is entirely understandable given what is at stake for them. The instruction is not to respond with equivalent withholding or hostility, but to maintain the standard of what is right regardless of what the other person is doing.
The rookie’s response to the unhelpful veteran has significant downstream consequences. The one who responds with resentment or hostility has added a relational problem to a competitive one. The one who responds with respect and professionalism — who competes hard for the position without making it personal — maintains the kind of character that the locker room notices and that eventually produces relationships when the competitive stakes change.
There are usually other people in the building who will help. Not the person whose spot you are competing for. The veteran who is secure in their position. The coach who was once in the same situation. The chaplain who has no stake in the competition. Find those people. Learn from them. And compete with the veteran by becoming the best version of yourself, not by making the relationship a war.
The person who doesn’t help you is not the only person who can. Find the ones who will.
Respond to the withholding with professionalism and respect. Compete hard for the position without making it personal. The locker room is watching the character, not just the competition.
Who in this building is willing to help you that you haven’t fully identified yet? Who has no competitive stake in your development and could actually invest in it?
The named person is the action item. Help the athlete identify who those people actually are.
Find the ones who will help. They exist. The person competing with you is not the only person in the building.
This devotional addresses a specific and common rookie experience. It requires the actual dynamic to be present to land correctly.