Better Together: Seeking God With OthersНамуна

Do life together.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. — Dale Carnegie

Acts 2 describes a community: they ate together, prayed together, and had a great time together. Most days were filled with awe and wonder by how God was moving in their midst. Generosity coursed through their veins as they shared all that they had with whomever was in need. They spent time together every day and worshiped God with all their hearts. And every single day they welcomed new people into the faith. 

Now that’s how to have community. 

Our busy lives may not allow us to have community as often as what the Bible depicts but we can definitely experience all of the same things they did. And we should. We were never meant to “fly solo” on this earth. 

Doing life together can look like this:

• Sharing a meal — casual or eloquent.
• Studying and discussing the Bible.
• Working out together.
• Pitching in financially to meet the need of a family.
• Attending a baseball game of a friend’s child.
• Asking the hard questions.
• Cleaning a friend’s house after a death in the family.
• Sending an encouraging text to a friend after a hard day.
• Offering a much needed hug to a devastated friend.
• Having communion as we remember Christ’s sacrifice.
• Traveling together.
• Praying around the clock for a specific need.
• Laughing so hard until we cry.
• Celebrating holidays together.
• Showing up at the ER when our friend’s son has a car accident.
• Throwing a wedding shower for our friend’s daughter.

It is all of those things and more. Once we have our community, we can’t walk away when things get uncomfortable or inconvenient. Because it will get that way at some point. Community pushes through the adversity and hardship. Community stays the course and believes the best. 

We can’t visit one small group that doesn’t seem to be a fit and assume that community isn’t within our grasp. It is! We just have to keep trying to find the people we want to do life with. The people we want to walk with us through the different terrains life brings our way— and the people that we want to walk with in their highs and lows.

Community can be as rich and deep as we make it. If we desire this, we must make the effort to have it. Godly, Christ-centered relationships are messy because people are messy. Community like this takes time to cultivate. 

Reflect

• Do you have any people in your life that you have a deep relationship with? If not, what prevents you from finding it?
• Write down any revelation that God speaks to you through today’s Bible reading or devotional.