DevotedExemplo

Created for Relationship, written by Teresa Letoa

After my fifth child started schooling, I landed a job working as a home-visiting support worker for first-time mums. There, I learnt of John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Bowlby observed that a child’s sense of security is reliant on the child’s caregiver’s availability to connect emotionally and with that, the ability to identify and meet their child’s needs. I became very aware of our limited parenting capacity and the miracle we needed to be able to cater to the vast needs presented by each young blessing. When I reflect on how we ourselves were supported, I discovered it is through the village life of family and community that we can navigate life well. We are created for relationship with one another. Paul writes in 1 Thess 5:11, “therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing.”

Previously in Acts 2:42, we read of an emerging community of believers who were committed to each other and “had everything in common.” Some, who were in lack, experienced God’s provision and kindness, while others “sold property and gave away their possessions to them.” They experienced God’s faithfulness and guidance when “they continued to meet together in the temple courts daily.” They also experienced God’s goodness and joy when “they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.”

Preceding this (Acts 2:1-5) was the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of the believers, and now we see His Spirit powerfully outworked and wonderfully evident by the way believers lived. The disciples' three-year journey with Jesus had radically impacted their lives.

I love the story in Luke of how Jesus, who was amidst a crowd, noticed Zacchaeus, the tax collector sitting awkwardly in a tree. Jesus stopped what he was doing, called him by name, and invited him over to his home. Zacchaeus had led a selfish and lonely life, but when their lives crossed paths, his life was completely turned around. Jesus identified and met Zacchaeus’ need for belonging, love, and acceptance.

Every moment, Christ makes himself available to us. He knows and wants to meet our deepest needs. The early church, filled with the Spirit of God, lived according to their purpose in relationship with one another. We, as believers, have the Spirit in us too to strengthen and encourage others and according to Acts 2:39. This promise of the Holy Spirit belongs to you, your children, and to all whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.

• What can you attribute in your life experiences to be from meaningful relationships?
• Who has God placed in your life that you can intentionally engage with to share the love of Christ?