Devotional Reading Plan

I am refreshed by fellowship. By Gretchen Saffles

We meet under towering oak trees, blankets sprawled across the grass, babies babbling, and toddlers playing in the sandbox nearby. I’m makeup-free with a hat on to hide my unkempt hair, but I’m here.

Here in the middle of my neighborhood with fellow sisters in Christ, showing up just as we are, to seek Jesus together. Here in the middle of my week, breaking the steady flow of busyness to be still alongside friends who also stopped to study the Word. Here in the middle of my story—the in-process, in-between, uncomfortable, and sanctifying pages that are being scribbled each moment.

There’s no denying it. I am refreshed in Christ by fellowship with other believers. I have excuses piled high as to why I don’t have time for fellowship, but my experience has proven time and time again that joy comes not from doing life alone but from depending on God as I am refreshed by fellow believers.

The apostle Paul knew the pangs of isolation and the joys of fellowship. After his miraculous conversion to Christianity, Paul became a missionary, traveling from place to place to share the gospel. As he wrote to the churches he ministered to, he always made a point to greet, thank, and bless fellow Christ followers.

In Romans 15, Paul urges believers to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (v. 7). A nomad of sorts, Paul knew the importance of Christian fellowship. As he poured out his life and faced persecution while traveling and preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, he refreshed his soul in the Lord by enjoying the company of the local church (vv. 20, 32).

The simple act of meeting together, whether seated on a patch of shaded grass, in a church pew, on your friend’s couch, or in a local coffee shop, is, by God’s design, a means of refreshing our souls. As we listen to each other's stories, weeping tears of grief when sorrow befalls our friends and rejoicing in laughter with hugs of gratitude when prayers are answered, we experience the grace and mercy of Jesus—his hands and feet made evident in the body of Christ. Our gathering together becomes a form of linking arms through lives shared because we know that in Christ, we truly are better together.