We Need One Another
Dear
Friends,
“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment
for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old
commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. 8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this
commandment, and you also are living it.” 1 John 2:7-8 (NLT)
We
need one another if we are to walk the Christian life as God intended.
I’m
an introvert and reserved by nature. I’m
happy with my own company –I just need a good book to read and a decaffeinated
skinny latte with a shot of caramel and I’m well away! However, I also know how important it is to
surround myself with good Christian friends so that I can really flourish as a
Christian.
I’ve
had people say to me that they don’t need to come to church to live their
Christian life. But that’s not what my
bible teaches. Coming to church won’t
make you a Christian, but we all need to be connected, we can’t do it on our
own, and we are definitely better together.
There are so many instances in the bible where we are taught to connect
with each other. That doesn’t mean we
will have a deep, close relationship with everyone, but we all need a group of
people around us with whom we can share honestly and openly, where we can give
and receive encouragement, comfort, support, as well as advice, a listening ear
and pointing out where perhaps we have gone off course and need to re-focus and
get back on track.
Take a look at some of the
things the bible teaches us to do for “one another”:
·
Love one another:
Romans 13:8, Philippians 2:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 John 3:11 (all from the
NLT)
·
Serve one
another: Galatians 5:13& I Peter 4:10,(both from the NLT)
·
motivate one another to acts of love and good works: Hebrews 10:24 (NLT)
·
Don’t judge one
another: Romans 14:13 (NIV)
·
Accept one
another: Romans 15:7 (NLT)
·
Encourage one
another: Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)
·
Kind and
compassionate to one another: Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
·
Forgive one
another: Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)
·
Teach and
admonish one another: Colossians 3:16 (NIV)
·
Fellowship with
one another: 1 John 1:7 (NIV)
·
Bear one
another’s burdens: Galatians 6:2 (NKJV)
·
Comfort one
another: 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NKJV)
I
also meet regularly with a fantastic group of mums who love the Lord Jesus as I
do. These mums have also become my good friends. In fact we met just this last Wednesday
morning. They are my loved sisters in
Christ and we have such a blessed time together. We share together from the heart, our joys
and our heartaches, we laugh together, cry together and we pray together. We learn from each other and are a source of
comfort, support and encouragement for each other. Studying God’s Word together is also a big
part of our gatherings. I love to hear
what each one is learning from God as they seek to tune themselves to hear his
voice as they read their bible. In this
way we are learning and growing together.
I’m like a proud mum when I see how much they are growing and becoming
more like Christ.
I would like to encourage you to make sure you too have some significant friends in your life, people who love Jesus just as you do and have the same aims as you do. These friendships shouldn't be characterised by one of you doing all the receiving and one doing all the giving, it should be one in which both are blessed and benefit from it.
If you want to know more about being a friend you could do no better than to look at the life of Jesus.
To
Think About:
What
does being a good friend mean to you?
I've just discovered that Best Friends Day is Saturday 8th June, what could you do to celebrate this? Don't worry if you've missed it, I also learnt that Friendship Day is 4th August , so this gives you a bit more time to prepare for!
Is there a particular person you feel God drawing you to befriend? What will you do about it?
Perhaps
now is the time to re-evaluate your friendships.
Is there one that needs to be nurtured?
Or is there one God is saying you need to let go of because it’s
not a healthy relationship.
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