A photo of Texas high school football player Gage Smith praying on the field with a player from the opposing team has gone viral. The other player's mom is sick. And the touching moment between these two rivals is a beautiful illustration of how we are all one in Christ!
Following the game between Sherman and Mesquite High Schools, Texas high school football player Gage Smith asked Ty Jordan from the other team if he could pray with him. He had learned Ty's mother had stage 4 lung and bone cancer.
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“It was meant for just me and him to have a moment," Gage Smith said. "And to pray over his family and for his mom. I just wanted to let him know there are other people thinking about him and his family. And let him know he has somebody to turn to."
The sight of the Texas high school football player praying on the field with an opponent caught the attention of the head coach's wife. She snapped a photo and shared it with Ty Jordan's aunt, Takka.
Takka posted the touching scene on social media, where the photo went viral. According to ABC 8 News, the image received more than 140,000 shares before Takka removed it from public view.
Gage Smith was astonished that the photo had gotten so much attention.
“To see that it blew up I was very surprised by it," the Texas high school football player said. "And I wasn’t expecting it to be like that, you know -- I was just doing it for him and doing it for his mom and his family.”
The photo deeply touched Ty’s mother, Tiffany Jordan, too.
"I was speechless,'' she said. "It made me cry. [Smith] didn't have to do that. The fact that he took the time to pray with Ty for me, that took my breath away."
Gage Smith's school won the regular-season game 56-27, keeping their playoff hopes alive. But the humble young man said that had nothing to do with his moment of prayer.
"I would've done that whether we would've won or lost,'' Smith said. "During the game we're enemies and we're gonna play and try to win the game, but you still have that respect for the other opponent. I wanted to do that for him.
Coach J.D. Martinez praised Smith’s actions calling him a “true leader” who is full of compassion.
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And the Texas high school football player's prayer on the field is certainly a beautiful picture of God's love. Too often, we allow differences to divide us. Yet, these two young men from rival schools understand that, as children of God, we are all one body in Christ!
"For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
h/t: Christian Headlines
Featured Image: Today/Sherman High School