Had another awesome Sabbath. It wasn't planned, but the themes in our Sunday School class, the message from Tama at service and the from the speaker at the Youth service were all the same: our calling and purpose in life. God is moving in our community. Had a wonderful fellowship with some friends we haven't spent nearly enough time with today at to'ana'i. I praise God for all His blessings in my life.
Point to Ponder: Community requires commitment.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
How can I help today to cultivate the characteristics of real community in my small group and in my church?
Verse to remember: "We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave His life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers." 1 John 3:16
My response:
This was a difficult chapter to digest because I've been guilty of many things that this chapter discusses. The first requirement of community is complete honesty. How many times in my life have I
'gone along to get along.' I didn't want to 'rock the boat' so I just let slip what shouldn't have been allowed. Whether in my personal life, my professional life, and in my spiritual life. For the sake of 'harmony', I've kept quiet when I should have spoken up. I think we can all relate to this. The chapter says don't be rude or judgmental, but we must speak truthfully to our fellow believers.
There's a fine line between speaking truth and being judgmental. That's why we should speak with love and compassion. Sometimes we find joy in finding fault in others and can't wait to tell them. That's not what Christ intends for us to do. Instead, we must have real love and compassion and practice a kind of tough love with fellow believers when we see them stumbling spiritually, instead of turning a blind eye so you don't disrupt the harmony in your group.
The other concept I take to heart in this is that we must always be guided with humility. One of the deep principles of our faith is that we are all sinners and unworthy of the love of God. But by His grace, through the blood of Christ, I have been made whole. So why should I boast, as Paul says, because my salvation comes from nothing that I did, but from everything Christ did. With that knowledge, always walk with humility because if the Son of God didn't lay His life down for us, we wouldn't have been reconciled with the Father and get a chance at eternal life. Be blessed.
Point to Ponder: Community requires commitment.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
How can I help today to cultivate the characteristics of real community in my small group and in my church?
Verse to remember: "We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave His life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers." 1 John 3:16
My response:
This was a difficult chapter to digest because I've been guilty of many things that this chapter discusses. The first requirement of community is complete honesty. How many times in my life have I
'gone along to get along.' I didn't want to 'rock the boat' so I just let slip what shouldn't have been allowed. Whether in my personal life, my professional life, and in my spiritual life. For the sake of 'harmony', I've kept quiet when I should have spoken up. I think we can all relate to this. The chapter says don't be rude or judgmental, but we must speak truthfully to our fellow believers.
There's a fine line between speaking truth and being judgmental. That's why we should speak with love and compassion. Sometimes we find joy in finding fault in others and can't wait to tell them. That's not what Christ intends for us to do. Instead, we must have real love and compassion and practice a kind of tough love with fellow believers when we see them stumbling spiritually, instead of turning a blind eye so you don't disrupt the harmony in your group.
The other concept I take to heart in this is that we must always be guided with humility. One of the deep principles of our faith is that we are all sinners and unworthy of the love of God. But by His grace, through the blood of Christ, I have been made whole. So why should I boast, as Paul says, because my salvation comes from nothing that I did, but from everything Christ did. With that knowledge, always walk with humility because if the Son of God didn't lay His life down for us, we wouldn't have been reconciled with the Father and get a chance at eternal life. Be blessed.
I absolutely do not like confrontation. I do not want to "disrupt the harmony" of things. But what use are our relationships if we are not genuine about it?
ReplyDeleteEarlier chapters discuss how important our relationships are. That is because how we are with each other and how we fellowship serve as evidence to the world that we love God. We are to help each other when we stumble or stray. If now, the people stumbling will just stray further from the fellowship of Christians.
What kinds of friends or family are we when we just let our fellow friends or members fall deeper into the stronghold of sin?
It is easier said than done indeed. Some of us may not to confront this person if fear they would think we are being judgemental. Some fear that we would lose that person's friendship or that person would never want to talk to us anymore. But you know, the deeper this person goes into the world of that sin, the less he/she becomes your friend. Eventually, you wont see him/her around and it would be harder for us to help.
In helping to bild a true sense of community, I want to cultivate relationships and build trust with my fellow members. I want to be authentic in my relationships. A sense of mutual trust will most certainly help make these relationships better and more genuine.