Daily Devotional

Growth in Community

by Harry Ulep on February 24, 2023

“And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  Hebrews 10:24–25

One of the blessings of being in my role has been the opportunity to be on campuses and relating to so many students along the way. I get to attend different campus meetings like Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and Youth for Christ, and see students reached with the Gospel.

Recently at one of the meetings, I had the chance to wrap up our time together and pray over our students, some who made first time decisions to follow Christ and others eager to take next steps in their faith. After the prayer time, I closed with one statement to the students, “We are here for you. To walk alongside you, encourage you, and help you grow no matter where you might be in your faith”. As students ended the meeting, one student approached me and asked the question, “Where do I start with reading the Bible?”. There was a desire to grow in their knowledge of who God is, but simply no one walking alongside them. And after this discussion, come to find out that there were other students feeling the exact same way and had a desire to start up a guys small group on campus in which they asked if I could help. It truly was amazing to see these students with a passion to encourage one another, not falling into the habits of falling away from worship, but a want to see themselves take strides in faith and knowledge of who God is.

This reminded me of the importance of community and being together as a body of believers. There is beauty in seeing accountability take place as we spur one another on to take our spiritual walk seriously. There is value that each person should place in encouraging each other and being concerned about one another, that their lives are seeking after God and what He desires for us. The reality that I faced with these students is that sometimes the journey may feel lonesome when surely others were feeling the exact same things. And rather than straying and becoming complacent in their faith, they sought growth and a circle of trusted individuals to be a part of their next steps.

Maybe for us, we might embrace the same feelings as these students. Maybe we fall into the lie that our season of life and faith is lonesome and no one is around to see us through it. May we find that circle of people who can walk life alongside us. May we not become stagnant in faith or accepting of this idea that where we are at is good enough. Rather, “let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near”. In other words, don’t forsake fellowship and the power of believers gathering together. Embrace it and encourage it.

Prayer: Father God, it is easy to grow stagnant and content where we are. May we not take for granted the importance of gathering and encouraging one another. May we see those You have placed in our lives, embrace the community You have blessed us with, and bless one another along the way. Amen.

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