November 4, 2018

Everyone Needs Someone

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.

– Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

We need each other. All of us need someone to call, someone to depend on, someone to carry them when the load seems unbearable.

Those who gather together aren’t always related by blood or marriage. Some of the strongest bonds come when a choice is made. There is a value, a determination, that makes us fight for the people who mean so much to us.

It’s not always easy to open up to others. We live in a fake world, where everyone pretends to be okay, to be successful, to be happy. We expect it of others. We expect it of ourselves.

But we all need people who see the bad, the insecure, the faults, and love us anyway. And we need to do the same with them. Because none of us are perfect and that is what makes us need others.

We’re more willing to share our successes though, aren’t we? We aren’t so willing to share our failures, our faults, our sins. But it is in those vulnerable moments that we become real to others. It is at those times when others, seeing us as we really are, allow themselves to become real with us.

Here’s the thing: No one sins in isolation. We want to think that our choices don’t impact others but they do. One lie begets another lie and on and on it goes until no one knows the truth from fiction. Everyone around it is impacted. And for what reason? Because one person didn’t want to tell the truth.

Or what about the person who spends uncontrollably. It’s their money so what’s the problem? Or they go out for a drink or two after work? Or they spend every night glued to the television? They are all choices that impact their families, their budgets, their jobs.

And where does church come in to all of this? Is church an option? Is faith a choice? Is God just the One we call on when we want or need something? It’s your choice but it impacts everyone you care about. It impacts you.

We need a church family. We need prayer warriors for the hard days. We need cheerleaders for the joys. We need each other. We need forever people who understand life is a journey toward home.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, make it a priority to surround yourself with people who truly know you. Let yourself be loved and love others. Really. Truly. One real, vulnerable person to another.