“You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way.”
We are meant to build the community within the church.
These are not easy goals, but they are goals which God has set out for us. When I read this some of the first thoughts that come into my mind are, “But I’m quite busy,” or, “I’m kinda tired,” and other pretty lame excuses. But it is clear that we need to develop the habit of getting together and sharing honestly.
It says habit because habits don’t start easily, a new diet or new exercise plan is most likely to be given up on before it becomes habit, but once it does, the benefits are tangible and obvious. And so are the benefits of community.
Honesty, humility, courtesy, confidentiality and frequency.
Telling the truth to each other in a loving way. Not spreading gossip, but maturely dealing with matters that arise and doing it often. In essence, meet together and share your needs, help each other out, don’t hold back when something needs to be said. These are liberating, although not always easy, as they often go against our first instinct, but as we know, an instinct can be wrong, but God is “the way the truth and the light,” so follow his commands.
I would encourage those of you who are in small groups to continue to meet in them after the campaign is over. Perhaps not everyone will stay, but endevour to create that intimate small group. Your feelings of trust will come with time together. The action of meeting and sharing needs to be first, the feeling of community will grow.