“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10:24-25
Relationships are a vital part of our walk with God. Throughout the bible, God puts emphasis on relationships. His relationship with us, our relationship with our spiritual family, our relationship with our physical family, relationships with sinners, relationships between husbands and wives, children and parents, truly, He left no relationship untouched.
Why do you think He did that? What’s the big deal about relationships with each other? Can’t we do this on our own?
No way, sister. We cannot do this on our own and God knew that. Every conversion story in the bible involves at least one other person! The new testament talks about how the Christians met together, studied God’s word together and met each other’s needs. Keep in mind that the story that did involve only one person (Adam) ended with a partner by his side. God knew then that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 1:15-25). So from the beginning of time, God has emphasized the importance of relationships.
Why? Because we need each other.
Why are you here today? What brought you to this blog?
You want inspiration. You need encouragement. You want to know that you are not alone as you walk through this life. You want someone to pray with, someone who understands what you are going through. You want to connect.
At least, that's the reason I'm here. I know there are many women out there who face the same struggles that I do, and I need the encouragement of their faith.
Every time that I have tried to tackle something on my own, I fail. Every time! You may think to yourself, “not me, girl. I’ve been doing this alone for years.” While that may be true to some degree (for instance, I’ve been doing the spiritual walk alone in my marriage for years), it’s not entirely true.
I would not be as faithful if it weren’t for my sisters in Christ.
I would not be as fruitful if it weren’t for my church family.
I would not continue to persevere if it weren’t for my spiritual family.
I need them. I need to stay connected to them.
I am constantly calling or texting my girlfriends on the daily. If I run into a bump with my husband, I reach out to a sister in Christ. A situation with my pre-teen daughter (Lord help all the moms of pre-teen girls), I’m on the phone with a sister: “help me out. How do I handle this?”
And why do I call a sister in Christ before I call a friend of the world?
Because she has my best interest in mind. She’s running the same race that I am. She will help me stay on the straight and narrow path.
I’ve completed the Los Angeles Marathon twice. Both times I ran the race with my best friend, who also is my sister in Christ (can I get an amen?). The races were brutal. Our legs were killing us, our bodies did not appreciate our effort and we were exhausted. But when we saw that finish line drawing near, we grabbed each other’s hand and we ran, with whatever energy we had left, across that finish line. Despite the hurt and desire to quit several times throughout the race, we both knew that we wouldn’t allow the other to stop. We were going to finish this together. And we did. Hand in hand.
You are in the marathon of your spiritual life.
Find your racing partner and run towards your crown.
Reach out. Connect. And keep going.
The race is much easier when you have a cheerleader by your side telling you,
“Keep going, don’t stop. I’m right here and we’re in this together.”
Xoxo
(This article was originally written by Jennifer Osler and featured as a guest blog post on GirlfriendsPray.org)
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