Our Need for Others

We live in a culture that teaches us to be proud of doing things without a need for others. We praise individual accomplishments. Even on a team, we look for what we can consider the most important individual contribution.

We're taught that asking for help is a sign of weakness. That we can't need other people. That the way to do it is to figure it out on our own.

And this works, at least to a degree, when life is going as we planned. When things are going smoothly and predictably we can manage on our own.

But, what happens when life throws something unexpected our way? What about the times when something happens and you're not sure you can keep going?

Those are the times when we can more clearly realize the ways our culture ahs it wrong. Those are the times when we can see our need our need for other people in our lives.

Yes, in those times we need God and we need to depend on Him completely. Yes, in those times we can't get through them without God.

But, God has designed us to need people. Often the way God helps us get through those times is by using the people around us to be His hands and feet in our lives - to show us His love.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says,

" And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deed, 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."

We need to have people around us who can encourage us, love us, buid us up walk with us through life. We were made to need this. It is God's plan.

I've been reminded of the importance of this in the last couple months. Life threw some unexpected things my way and quickly became clear I wasn't going to get through it all on my own - or even just me and God. I needed to allow the community God had placed around me to walk through it with me - to encourage me and love me and help me keep on going when I couldn't on my own. God was choosing to use them to get me through this time.

As I've reflected on this, I've been able to see a beautiful picture of how God intends for His people to live, of how God created us to care for one another. A picture that is so different than the one our culture tells us we should live by.

Allow God to Form Your Thoughts

"We demolish arguements and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5).

For most of my life I've thought that taking every thought captive was actually impossible. It just seemed like something I couldn't do.

I mean . . . who doesn't have thoughts that wander sometimes?

And how am I really supposed to think about God and His ways all the time?

How do I actually stop thinking about things I know I shouldn't? It seems like the harder I try to stop thinking about it, the more I end up thinking about it.

I've been challenged lately that maybe I've had it wrong when it comes to taking every thought captive. Not that doing so is wrong; Scripture is pretty clear that we should. But, what if I've been wrong in my understanding of what taking every thought captive means - what it looks like?

We all have things happen in life that stay with us. We think about them as drive, as we shop, as we work, as we watch TV, as we go to sleep. They can be good or bad. They don't have to consume all our thoughts, but they are things we give some time to.

When it comes to sinful thoughts, worry, anxiety, and so many things we know aren't from God, the most common advice I've heard is to just stop thinking about them - to work harder at not thinking about them. And then I would feel even worse because when I tried harder to not think about them, I ended up thinking about them more. This led me to conclude that what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 10:5 is impossible.

But, in one of the Bible studies I've been working through recently, the author challenged me to see things differently. She was talking about Isaiah 26:3, which says:
          "You will keep in perfect peace
                    those whose minds are steadfast,
                    because they trust in You."
                                             (NIV, emphasis mine)

She started talking about what is meant by steadfast minds based on the original language. The picture of it made me think it might actually be possible to take our thoughts captive.

The idea in Isaiah 26:3 is one of leaning all of our thoughts onto God, so He can form them. It's not about what we do to change our thoughts, but about allowing God to form how we think about what we're thinking.

Taking my thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ is about allowing Him to form how I think about things. When I do that, my thoughts change. I being to see things God's way and to think about what is good and pleasing to Him. It becomes possible to take my thoughts captive because it's no longer about me. It's about allowing God to form how I think about what I think - whatever it is I'm thinking about.

The Only One Whose Opinion Really Matters

Whose opinion are you most worried about?

Whether we want to admit it or not, we often have someone whose opinion of us matters more than others to us. We know that it shouldn't be that important to us, but it is nonetheless.

In 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 Paul writes some challenging words:

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the matters of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."

Paul is pretty clear in these words that he's not concerned about what others think of him. He is concerned with what God thinks and what God sees.

Because of this, Paul kept a short account with God. He kept his conscience clear by dealing with things right away. He wasn't saying he didn't have sin and struggles in his life; but that he went to God with them right away.

Pail knew that ultimately it is only God Who can expose what is really going on in our hearts. God will always bring tit into the light so He can deal with it.

When I read these words in 1 Corinthians, my first thought is to wonder if I could say that I care very little if I'm judged by someone else, alongside Paul. The truth is, most days I couldn't. Most days I am concerned about what others think of me and their judgements of me.

I know that what God thinks of me is more important, but I don't always live like that. In a world, where judgements of other people are made all the time, it cna be difficult to not care what others think of us.

But, the reality of it is that God's judgement of us is all that will really matter. Serving Him, seeking His approval above all is what our lives should be about.

When we live our lives concerned the most with God and His approval we are freed to live the lives He intended for us to live. And God is given the room to do His work of transformation in us, as He exposes that which needs to be exposed in us and does His work on it.