Then the LORD God said, “It is not good
for the man to be alone…” Genesis 2:18
“I can worship God better out here in
the woods. I love God, but I can’t stand people. So, church is not for me.” Maybe you’ve heard that. Maybe you’ve said that. It sounds logical; but it’s
not scriptural. It’s also not true. First John 4:20 is clear that we cannot
fully love God until we learn how to love our Christian brothers and sisters.
The God who created us told us that it is not good for us to be alone. That
means He designed us with an internal growth chip that is only activated in
fellowship with other believers. When we isolate ourselves from our Christian
family, we forfeit that area of growth. Here’s why:
When God created Eve
for Adam, He already knew she would lead him into trouble. God could have
wadded her up into a ball of clay and started over. But He didn’t. He let her
stay, because He knew that she would challenge Adam to grow in ways that would
be impossible if it was only Adam and God. Because of Eve, Adam learned some
things about himself that forced him to depend upon God. And in our
relationships, it is often the frustrating aspects that become the tools God
uses to shape our character. Relationships challenge us to grow in ways that we
cannot when it is just us and God. Our relationships reveal selfish motives,
prideful attitudes, or errors in thinking that we would never address without
our equally-flawed brothers and sisters bumping into those places. Communing
with God in nature is wonderful, but we need each other to become like Jesus.
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