Today’s Verse

Ecclesiastes 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.” (NIV)

Michael Ramsden, founder of The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, tells a story that reveals an interesting truth about our perception of peace. He once asked his audience to close their eyes and imagine “peace”. After a few seconds, the audience was invited to share.

One person described a field filled with flowers and magnificent trees. Another imagined snow-capped mountains and a vast alpine landscape. Yet another pictured a serene, still lake.

Each person’s vision of peace was beautiful, but one thing was common: not one image had people in it. Ramsden commented, "Isn't it interesting that when asked to imagine peace, the first thing we do is to eliminate everyone else?"

The truth is, people are messy. They can frustrate, annoy, and discourage us. But the same people the Enemy tries to use to irritate us are often the very ones God uses to encourage, bless, and refine us. Relationships are both challenging and essential. Our longing for perfect, sin-free community is a good longing, but it can keep us from seeing the people God places in our lives—imperfect as they are—as His gifts.

God doesn’t call us into community just for comfort or companionship; friendships are part of His larger plan to reach others. As believers, we’re not only saved—we’re sent. Our relationships aren’t separate from the Great Commission but an extension of it. If we’re focused only on our comfortable social circles, we may miss the chance to notice the lonely neighbor in the house next door or the struggling single mom we work with.

How we treat people shows what we truly believe, more than what we say we believe. Experiencing the love, joy, and peace of following Jesus only comes from living it out in community—the way God designed.

Eugene Peterson once wisely wrote, “Scripture knows nothing of the solitary Christian life. People of faith are always members of a community. I didn’t come to the conviction easily, but finally, there was no getting around it. There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life, apart from an immersion in, and embrace of, community. I am not myself by myself. Community, not the highly vaunted individualism of our culture, is the setting in which Christ is at play."

Let us rebel by leaning into friendship, the kind that goes beyond comfort and convenience; it reaches out in love and purpose.

REFLECTION

Today, think of someone who might need encouragement. Send a note, text, or email and let them know you’re in their corner. Your words could be just the spark they need to keep going.