I need you & you need me. Just like the lyrics from Hezekiah Walker's song The Body of Christ is whole & complete and we really need each other particularly in this season when folks are experiencing all kinds of trauma and anxiety connected to politics, poor health, poverty, job loss, housing insecurity, launching new projects, trying to lose weight, after rejections and/or abandonment.
Being part of a community is beneficial for several reasons, here's a few:
Sometimes you only need 1 egg
To be heard
To listen to others
People are designed to connect with others
When our children are sick we can call someone to help us manage
When we experience loss (job, loved one, housing..) we can lean on others to be supported
When others experience devastation we can be there to walk alongside them
Community is the very essence of why God created us. God wanted connection with humanity and wanted humanity to connect with Him. So it is no surprise why the defeated foe (satan) would attack relationships first! Adam & Eve's disconnection with God via eating outside the boundaries God gave was an attack on their relationship with each other and an attack on their relationship with God! Every relationship, every connection is under attack! Siblings experiencing turmoil is a weapon of warfare from the enemy. Parents divorcing is a weapon from the enemy. Colleagues stabbing each other in the back as they climb ladders of success is a weapon from the enemy!
But God can give us victory in all of these areas where we are experiencing strife in relationships. The truth is that the victory God wins for us may not bring the relationship back to a place of safety, health, and support. But God can give you victory in the form of having the courage to be a peacemaker and then to enjoy God's peace about the relationship if there is no resolution.
It doesn't matter if you are an introvert or extrovert, if you are anti-social or a social butterfly - we need each other to survive this! We need to develop healthy relationships with our neighbors, colleagues, classmates, team members, and church family! It is crucial for all of our survival. I am thinking about how the civil rights movement including the bus boycotts could not have been victorious if people did not humble themselves, lean into God for courage and build healthy relationships so that families could get to work and school. During the enslavement process in the USA thousands more Africans would have died once they reached the USA if had not been for community. Community matters in every way, shape, and form! I encourage you to dig a little deeper and make the first step to building community right where you are!
We need each other to survive!
Right here! Right now!
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