We Need Each Other
Practical Christianity means we treat each other as we want to be treated– by obeying what God’s Word asks of us. We find between 35 and 50 “One Anothers” in the New Testament, depending on which translation we read.
Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Care for one another. Forgive one another. Love one another. Serve one another. Be hospitable to one another. Comfort one another. Weep with one another. And on and on. I explore many of them in my book “Cast Your Shadow: Influence On Purpose.”
Peter wrote: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms…. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10a, 11 NIV).
Jesus, knowing who He was, where He had come from, and where He was going, took a towel and washed His disciples’ feet as they gathered for their last meal. In taking the role of a servant, Jesus gave us an example to follow. Of course, there are many ways to serve one another.
Consider the command to encourage: “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV). James W. Goll reminds us:“Barnabas was the kind of person who saw something of great value and worth in another person and did everything he could to promote that person—he promoted Paul’s ministry instead of his own.”
Pray for one another. “Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. (James 5:16 AMPC)
What about the biblical instructions to care for one another, comfort one another or be hospitable to one another?
“The human being is the only species that cannot survive alone. Humans need another human being–otherwise, they’re dead! A telephone call to a depressed person can save a life. An occasional word, a ten-minute visit, can be more effective than 24-hours of nursing care. You can buy nursing care. You cannot buy love,” wrote Dr. Leonard Cammer, author of “Up From Depression.”
So, we need one another. Yes, we definitely do.
Chuck Pierce makes a great point: “In a society such as ours that places high value on personal achievement it is often hard to understand that our destiny is linked to others. And that we will not succeed alone. We are connected to one another. Therefore, the promise God has for you is incorporated into a greater destiny of which you are apart. Your promise is linked to the overall movement of God, not only in your life, but in your territory, and in the generations past and yet to come. Even though God is a very personal God, He enacts our promises along with those of others to whom He has connected us.”1
Of course, there are various reasons/results/experiences related to our personal “one another” connections. You can remember a few yourself.
Looking around we will see opportunities in unexpected places and situations where we can become Jesus’ representative to another one– in family, neighborhood, community or wherever else we are willing for Him to use us.
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the people You send into my life. Help me to minister Your love in such a way that it blesses them and brings honor to You. I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
1. Chuck Pierce, The Best Is Yet Ahead, (Colorado Springs, CO: Wagner Publication, 2001), 34.
Parts excerpted from “Cast Your Shadow: Influence on Purpose” by Quin Sherrer. Available on Amazon.
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