Fiercehearted, Live Fully, Love BravelySample

Seven: The Sisterhood

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

(1 Peter 2:9)

I’m learning love has a fighting chance when we find the courage to stop believing this lie: “I’m the only one.” 

You’re not the only one who has struggled with an addiction. You’re not the only one whose heart has been shattered by a divorce. You’re not the only one who is worried no one will like you. You’re not the only one who wonders if God is still listening. You’re not the only one who desperately needs a night away from dirty laundry and loud children.

And this is what community means—it’s saying even if the specifics of our lives and stories are different, we both understand what it means to be human and we choose to do that with each other rather than apart. 

I’ve begun saying, “You’re not the only one” in another way too. When I’m anxious and afraid, I have said it to myself with capital letters, “You’re not the Only One.” In other words, “You’re not Jesus.” Last time I checked no one else on the planet is either. 

This is excellent news because it means we don’t have to save the world. We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to take care of everything and everyone all the time. There is only One who can do those things, and he’s quite good at them. It also means there is Only One who is truly deserving of our glory and our honor and our praise. Our lives are not about us. They are about him. Yes and amen. 

Just in case we’re facing something hard or scary in our lives today, I’ll whisper the truth one more time: you’re not the only one. And the only One who can do the impossible is always with us. 

We’ve got each other too, the whole unseen sisterhood stretched out through history—an imperfect and unstoppable force.