A need for each other

Have you ever looked at the church today and wondered why people do not seem to be living up to the standards set in the bible?

I have looked at my life and the lives of others around me and have wondered this.  And I have been confronted recently with an insight that I think we can all benefit from.  When I look at the lives of people around me I am confronted by a fierce independence that we all seem to be proud of.  Myself included.  Our society has propagated the lone ranger mentality that you ride off into the sunset  after accomplishing some impossible thing, and the whole time you are functioning mostly alone.  We don’t seem to need anyone and if we do it is seen as a weakness and not a strength.  And yet scripture is full of truth that says we need each other.  There are 36 one another’s in scripture.  Some are

Be Devoted to One Another
Accept One Another
Bear With One Another
Forgive One Another
Honor One Another
Live in Harmony with One Another
Greet One Another
Serve One Another
Submit to One Another
Stop Judging One Another
Encourage One Another
Offer Hospitality to One Another
Be Humble Towards One Another

…and most importantly… LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Our ability to live a Christian life is determined by our ability to lean on and rely on one another.  There are no lone rangers in the Christian faith.   One verse in particular commands us to seek out a local church and become a member. Hebrews 10:25, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some.

Our Christian life is all about relationship.  Our first and primary relationship is with our Saviour Jesus Christ.  John 3:16 says “The gift of God is eternal Life…”  we all know the verse, but John 17:3 says “This is eternal life..”,  the bible defines eternal life for us, “… That you may know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.”   The word know is the same word know that Joseph did not know Mary until Jesus was born.  It entails intimacy and relationship.  The Christian faith is a love relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent, empowered by the Holy Spirit, as we cannot live this life without Him, and lived out in long-term committed relationships with other believers.  My pastor shares this truth all the time and it is one I love.  But yet we miss out on the long-term committed relationships.  We have difficulty letting go of our independence and living in relationships.  Something that leaves us very limited and unable to live the lives that God intends.   James 5:16 says “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be cured.”  Those things in our lives that we are having difficulty overcoming can only be dealt with as we learn to lean first on Jesus, and then upon one another.  Until we discover how to I don’t think we will ever become all that we can be.