We NEED each other by Ps Jim Jung

As Australians we idolize independence. We’re a nation of almost 24 million individuals. We honor the Lone Ranger. We’ve bought into a myth that says that the key to happiness is independence. If I have relational independence, financial independence, if I don’t let anybody get too close to me and I'm totally self-sufficient, then I will be happy. And yet every year the suicide rate tends to rise. Then we realize that one of the greatest aches in our society is loneliness.

God says that the key to happiness is not independence but inter-dependence. The reality is, we need each other. We belong to each other. We need community in our lives. God made you to go through life not as a solitary individual but as a member of a community. The bible says:

Romans 12:5b “Since we are all one body in Christ we belong to each other and each of us needs all the others.” 

Rick Warren says: We need each other. God says community is not optional. You may not feel it. You may not have been raised with it. You might even like being self-sufficient. You may believe that you don't need other people in your life. But the truth is you absolutely have to have other people in your life if you’re going to be all that God wants you to be. 

Why do we need each other? One of the reasons is that I need others to walk with me. Colossians 2:6-7 says “Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him.”

The Bible often compares life to a walk. Why? Because we’re on a journey. You don't just sit still in life. The bible calls the spiritual life, the Christian life, a walk. Throughout the New Testament we’re told to walk in wisdom, to walk in love, to walk in light. We’re also told to walk in obedience, in the Spirit, to walk as Jesus walked.

But one of the key ways that God tells us to walk is this: you were never meant to walk through life alone. And that has nothing to do with whether you’re single or married. Marriage doesn’t solve the issue of being alone. Community does. 

That’s why the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 10:25 “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together [notice it’s a habit. It’s something you do all the time] Instead let us encourage one another.” He says you were created for community!

Rick Warren says that Community is God’s answer to loneliness. I’ve got to have other people in my life as I'm walking through life. I need other people to grow. I can’t grow without others. Iron sharpening iron. Life is about relationships, not about achievements. The bible teaches me that God is love and He wants me to learn to love Him and to love others and the best environment for that to take place is in not found in isolation or independence but in community.

Remind yourself today: We NEED each other. Make sure you are connected to a community of people that are encouraging you in your walk.