What is it about hurting children that tear our hearts to shreds. In those times when my children cry out in pain or they’re needing comfort, my first response is always to run to them and hold them through the pain.
What makes us think that our Heavenly Father is any different? He hurts with us, laughs with us, cries with us, rejoices with us, walks with us, talks with us, and most importantly loves with us. The most jaw dropping point that comes with this is that he has equipped us to do this for others.
The community of God is the most direct representation of God that we have. Being Jesus with skin on is good, but loving christians joining together equipped to be Jesus to the lost and to one another magnifies His (Jesus’s) testimony and turns us into a counter cultural collaboration of Christ.
The Bible portrays the church as a community of Christians who care for one another, love one another, host one another, receive on another, honor one another, serve one another, instruct one another, forgive one another, motivate one another, build up one another, encourage one another, comfort one another, pray for one another, confess sin to one another, esteem one another, edify one another, teach one another, show kindness to one another, give to one another, rejoice with one another, weep with one another, hurt with one another, and restore one another.
What impact would the church have if we could actually live this out? What cultural shifts would we see within our neighborhoods? What would happen to our own world view?
C4 