I am so thankful for the work I see God doing in the lives of our children! I am learning from them!
I’ve been especially delighted, over the past few months, to see both our at-home daughters growing in their appreciation for the community life of believers and the fellowship and encouragement that thrives in that community. Today I would like to share a post that our daughter, Bethany, has written about that subject. She has some good things to say to us!
Here’s Bethany:
“The church exists primarily for two closely correlated purposes: to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world … The church also exists for a third purpose, which serves the other two: to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another, to learn from one another and teach one another, and to set one another examples to follow, challenges to take up, and urgent tasks to perform. This is all part of what is known loosely as fellowship.” N. T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense
We recently came back from our week long church camp. Like every consecutive year, it was the best ever. 😉
Fellowship, encouragement, ocean sand, and sometimes some gentle or not-so-gentle exhortation are all priceless blessings in God’s world—things I sometimes ignore, until all of the sudden God reminds me with beautiful, imperfect, furiously dedicated people.
As C. S. Lewis said, “The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.” I’m so blessed to be encircled with wise people!
This past year has shown me more and more how valuable accountability, work, and conversation can be with fellow Christians who are running alongside me (and many running ahead and calling back at my chuffing silhouette).
Christian friendship takes hard work and more than a little sweat and tears. Stepping out and becoming vulnerable or telling the truth is scary stuff. I have a hard time with both. But God has been forcing these blessings upon me in the character of those around me.
When we’re having problems, we shouldn’t be afraid to tell each other, and to ask each other for accountability to our commitments and prayer. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes my closest “church friends” are some of the hardest people to talk with about the struggles I’m going through. It shouldn’t be like this.
Don’t skip out on fellowship, hard conversations, or simply reaching out to someone because you’re scared, tired, overwhelmed, or feel inadequate. These are some of the things that give us the most energy!
We are truly comrades in arms. God made us this way. We need each other, so let’s not be afraid to act like it.
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