Fellowship

Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrase “one another” or “each other” is used.  We are commanded to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, hear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each other, and many other mutual tasks.  This is biblical membership!  These are your “family responsibilities” that God expects you to fulfill through a local fellowship.  Who are you doing these with?

It may seem easier to be holy when no one else is around to frustrate your preferences, but that is a false, untested holiness.  Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are mature if there is not one to challenge us.  Real maturity shows up in relationships.

We need more than the Bible in order to grow; we need other believers.  We grow faster and stronger by learning from each other and being accountable to each other.  When others share what God is teaching them, we learn and grow, too.

A church family will help keep you from backsliding.

Satan loves detached believers, unplugged from the life of the Body, isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual leaders, because he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics.

God wants to see you grow and mature.  He loves you and wants to see you become like His son, Jesus Christ.

Do you have a church family?  Are you an active member of a thriving small group?

Remember, God only wants the best for you!!