I was reminded again this week that there are many types of community. It seems that every time I am correcting my sons, I am being spoken to by God to correct things in my life. My boys are a part of my community. God uses them to speak truth to me, and point out sin in my life. They love me through it. My husband Brian is a major part of my community. He speaks truth into my life on a daily basis, and loves me through it all. My close friends see things in my life that they speak truth to me, and love me through it. My extended family does the same. The theme is overwhelming: speak the truth and love through it. We all have opportunity for community. Are we engaged in it?
Community does more than change us to be more like Christ. It also encourages others and changes others. When I am in a hard place of life, my life can either give God glory, or not. The people in my community see these reactions. It may inspire some in my community to step forward and lead me in an area of my life. Others may have been discouraged themselves, and received encouragement to continue on. Being a part of this process and seeing life change may bless some.
As a church, we believe in living in community. We have the opportunity to model community to our children. We build relationships within our small groups at church, and our children continue to grow in these relationships as they get older and move into student ministry.
Community is more than meeting once a week, sharing come struggles, and encouraging others on occasion. Community is living life-on-life. Life-long.
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