I went to a college football game a few weeks ago. Throughout the game, a man stood behind me and cheered loudly every time the team he was rooting for did something good. He shrieked just as loudly in horror when something bad happened for that team. He made his allegiances well known.

The noise wore on me. But it also annoyed me because he was rooting for the wrong team.

I started to wonder why he cared so much. And then I wondered why I cared at all.

The team I was rooting for was comprised of young men who happened to attend the same college as I had. They wore the familiar colors and logos. Aside from that, I knew nothing about them and didn’t feel invested in their lives. My life would not be affected by their success or failure during that game. And yet, I cheered proudly when “my” team scored a touchdown, while the man behind me wailed in misery.

We humans get caught up in tribal mentality quickly and easily — always seeing the world in stark divisions of “us” vs. “them.” We take credit for and celebrate the victories of any individuals in our perceived tribe as if they were our own. And we take their failures personally.

Unfortunately the devil knows us all too well. He recognizes our tendencies toward tribalism and uses that to deepen our divisions, drawing out misplaced fears and unwarranted hatred.

The truth is that we only have one enemy here, and it’s not another human or group of humans. Our true enemy is sin which leads to death, and the devil wants to drag as many of us there with him as he can.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭57,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

We only have the one true enemy, but because of God’s love, we can already claim victory against it. Death will no longer have the final say for those who trust in Jesus.

Dear God, forgive me for thinking that I have any enemies among your children here. Remind me that the only meaningful team or party or tribe I really belong to is your team. And the only rivalry worth focusing on is between me and sin. Thank you so much for letting me play on your winning team, a unifying team of love.