Encouragement to Find Fellowship

Just as our souls need solitude, our bodies need the bonding of fellowship for growth. We were created for community and we can't go it alone for long. Learning to live our lives together with others is the heart of encouragement.

Your relationship to God may be personal, but it is not intended to be private. Connectedness and community are key to your spiritual health and growth. Living organs need lifeblood and relationships is where we discover our role in this world. The local church congregation, flawed as it may be, is where we do life on life together. Real maturity shows up in loving irritating, imperfect and frustrating people.

The Bible calls us to love one another, pray for one another, encourage each other, admonish each other, serve each other, bear each other's burdens, be devoted to one another. The phrases one another or each other are used over fifty times in the New Testament and that refers to our spiritual fellowship family.

Who are you doing these with in your life? Who will you rub shoulders with or be accountable to in order to be challenged in your walk? Although it may be easier, we can't be the lone ranger or grow and mature on our own.

Learning how is the essence of encouragement.