Happy Tuesday! I’ve been at my grandmas for a few days just relaxing and it’s been so nice! Everyone needs a break every once in a while. 🙂 A few weeks I asked my friend Briana Chambers to write a little something for my blog and here we are! Briana has one of the biggest hearts and I’m truly blessed to call her a friend!

(Sorry Briana I had to post this!)

Community- “a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.”

I bolded the last part of that definition because of it’s significance. There are so many varying personalities in this world full of people, but if nothing else, one thing we all have in common is our heritage. Where we came from. Who created us—our origin. And that’s how we create a community—by forming relationships with all types of people. In fact, we’re wired FOR relationships! The first thing in the Bible God declared bad was loneliness! Genesis 2:18 says it is NOT good for man to be alone; so Eve was the solution. And what Eve represented was a relationship. We’re MADE for each other. However, everyone benefits from relationships. Specifically, in three ways..

#1: We learn accountability

Galations 4:9-10        

“Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Having a council of close companions to rely on and seek wisdom from is GOOD. Better yet, it’s encouraged! Being accountable to others shows responsibility and maturity. Watching each other’s backs is crucial. We are called to support everyone—especially those we’re in relationship with.

#2: We learn / gain wisdom

Often times different personalities and perspectives can teach us things we never would have thought of. For example, look at the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John were four different men, with four different personalities, and four different perspectives. Yet, the exact same story was written of in their books. How cool is that? We read about the same Gospel, just from multiple vantage points. What an awesome opportunity to look at the same thing from a different angle! Learning means changing the way we look at things so that we can become more aware of what we’re looking at.

#3: We learn about Christ

To study man is to study God. He made us in His image and set us apart. His handiwork is seen in all of creation. When we examine the creation we realize that the characteristics of Christ are imprinted into all He’s made. Looking at the positive traits of our friends or family members reminds us that we have them because Christ has them. He gifted us with different things: honesty, patience, love, gentleness, kindness, etc.. All of these traits can be traced back to where they originated: Christ. However, every single one of those traits is made perfect in Him! We can also see Christ in our negative traits—our weaknesses. When we are afraid, anxious, or impatient, Christ can be seen shining through us giving us the strength we need to carry on. WE are made strong in Christ.

To sum it all up, God is intentional with who He has placed into our lives. We need not to worry when the Creator of the Heavens and Earth holds our lives in His hands. We are cared for beyond measure. The people in our lives are there either because we need them, they need us, or both! We should praise God that He would think of every detail of our lives. The only way to repay His immense goodness is to give the entirety of our lives over to Christ to use and make beautiful. Community prospers when our relationships thrive. We have the choice everyday to ignore others or acknowledge them. So what will you choose to do to benefit your community?

 Thanks again to Briana for sharing this post!

Follow Briana on Twitter @baby_bri03 

Oh and here’s a candid of Briana and I at homecoming two years ago 🙂