3 Reasons You Need a Caddy
Last weekend, I went to a wedding in North Carolina with my wife. We had a wonderful time watching as two great friends made a covenant to the Lord and to each other. They have been faithful in their purity to each other as they had been dating for the past 8 years! My wife and I were asked read scripture in the wedding, which let us play apart in all the wedding festivities. It also gave me the opportunity to play Golf with the wedding party! I will be the first to admit I’m not the greatest golfer, especially since I require extra-long clubs.
B. Wang attempting to swing
However, I still enjoy simply getting away from the norm of life and hitting the course. This time I decided to ride in the golf cart and play the role as driver and caddy for a good friend. As we continued throughout the day, I began to realize how important caddy’s are in the game of golf. Even more importantly I began to realize that everyone needs a caddy just in their everday life.
Though I don’t know much about golf, I know the things that I need work in my game. I know that I usually try to hit the ball as hard as possible, which often results in a bad hit. I know I usually top the ball when I hit it, because I’m lifting up my head as I swing. I know that I get consumed by the terrain around me, and not focused on my goal…the hole. I know that I lack patience as my play gets worse, which makes my play even worse. I took this knowledge and entered into my first round as a “caddy”.
I played the role of caddy on the front 9 and my friend’s game began to evolve. He told me that he was hitting the ball the best that he ever had. He even par’d a few holes, which he had never done. He said that it was so helpful to have someone to give him advice ranging from which club to use, how hard to swing, when to slow down and to encourage throughout the hole. As the day went on he began to tell his brothers that were playing golf as well that I was his secret weapon and that my insight had made a huge impact on his game.
Looking back, I realize how important it is to have a ‘Caddy’ in our every day lives. As I was giving my friend insight, I wasn’t forcing him to hit one way or another. I was simply giving him information to process as he made the decision. This is exactly what it’s like to have a mentor in your life. I find it crazy that we feel that we need tutors, caddies, coaches and counselors for numerous aspects of sports or school. Yet we don’t think we need them as we make life decisions. That is unless we have made previous mistakes and see how essential that need truly is. I wonder what Tiger Wood’s life would have been like had he had a caddy on and off the course. I find it highly doubtful that he would have hit rock bottom as he did. I encourage you to find someone to disciple and mentor you, to live life alongside you!
If you are looking for someone to caddy you through life. Here are 3 benefits to having a mentor:
1. Caddy’s carry a players bag and clubs and give insightful advice and moral support. We were never meant to carry our burdens alone. That is a lie that the devil uses to deceive us and push us deeper into loneliness. We were meant to come alongside others and carry their burdens, to encourage them in Christ until those burdens have past. We need other people in our lives to lean on and to offer biblical truth and wisdom in our next steps.
‘Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ’
- Galatians 6:2
2. Caddy’s are aware of challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played. It’s always comforting to relate to others when they have gone through the same circumstances we have. Having a mentor that you can relate with allows them to speak truth into the challenges and obstacles that you will face. They can help steer you away from traps that they fell into years before, helping you learn from their mistakes.
‘Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,’- Proverbs 1:5
3. Caddy’s know the best strategy in playing the golf course. Each course that we ‘play’ in life has many twists and turns and can get quite confusing. We are often looking for any help, but often come up empty. By humbling yourself and seeking out a mentor, you invite them to walk with you through life. Just as a caddy walks ahead of the golfer carrying his bag and suggesting which club to use and what shot to make, a mentor walks ahead of you and offers you the wisdom you need…no matter where your ball lies.
‘So, being affectionally desirous of you,
we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves,
because you had become very dear to us.’- 1 Thessalonians 2:8
What is some advice you could give someone in looking for a mentor?
