Read Hebrews 10: 23-25 NIV
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So often, when things get crazy in my life, I am tempted to pull away. I duck my head, brace for impact, and keep on moving forward. But most times I do it alone because fear and pride get the best of me. I isolate myself in an attempt to protect myself. But that isn’t the way God designed us to live. His desire for just such moments was for us to live in community with one another as the church, so that when difficult things happen in our lives we don’t have to endure them on our own. We can allow others to encourage us, help to carry us through, and remind us what it looks like to show love in the midst of difficult things.
If I am honest, I am way better at encouraging others than I am at allowing myself to be encouraged. But from time to time I have found myself on the receiving end of people who embody the idea of encouraging others to be who God is calling them to be, and then helping them live that out. And what a blessing it has been. In those moments I am reminded that I don’t need to protect myself…God’s got that. And He so loving has given me people, a wonderful community of believers, who spur one another on and lift each other up. We need the church to walk with us in faith.
