Biblical Community - Sharing

Good morning, Five Minute Families! How has this week been for you? It’s been a bit crazy for us!Let’s dive back into our discussion about biblical community. Listen to this story.A man went to church. He forgot to silence his phone and, of course, it rang during prayer. The pastor scolded him. The worshippers admonished him after prayers for interrupting the silence. His wife kept on lecturing him on his carelessness all the way home. One could see the shame, embarrassment, and humiliation on his face. After all this, he never stepped foot in the church again.That evening, he went to a bar. He was still nervous and trembling. He spilled his drink on the table by accident. The waiter apologized and gave him a napkin to clean himself. The janitor mopped the floor. The female manager offered him a complimentary drink. She also gave him a huge hug and a peck while saying, “Don’t worry man. Who doesn’t make mistakes?” He has not stopped going to that bar since then.Do your home and family sound more like the church scenario or the bar scenario? Romans 12:10 tells us to love one another deeply as brothers and sisters and outdo one another in showing honor. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others, of course, but we must learn to live authentically, sharing our struggles with one another. James 5:16 encourages us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another so that healing may begin. If we have a cut or scrap, just bandaging over it with all the dirt and damaged tissue left inside will cause the wound not to heal or to heal very badly. God knows that when we sin, if we do not bring that sin into the light and find true cleansing, it will harm us and those we say we love.We need to be authentic with one another in our struggles and in our triumphs. We need to be able to share our hopes and our fears. As Christians we are not to simply take in knowledge, but we are to encourage one another and we are also to pass along what we have learned. One way to do that is to be grace-filled. I love this example of being a grace-filled person: “A grace-filled person is someone who is so full of God’s love that they stop before they react out of anger to assess the situation and see if the person or situation is one that needs grace more than it needs anger.”Five minute families, ask yourself these five questions:Are your home and biblical community grace-filled?How do you react when people are open about their sins and struggles?Is there authenticity or a culture of pretending?How does your family or biblical community keep conflict open rather than suppressed?How do you express a sense of responsibility to and for one another?We need God’s knowledge – the Truth of His Word, so that we can absorb it and know it. Sometimes – probably more often than we care to admit – we wrestle with it. Someone who works hard with their hands have visible marks of rough and strong hands. Have we wrestled enough – worked through the Scripture enough – that there is visible showing of His grace through our behavior toward one another? Are we visibly full of grace? Do we speak with faith? Are our hearts full of peace? When difficulties come, actively pursuing forgiveness and reconciliation illuminated by God’s truth is vital to a vibrant home life and biblical community.Marinate on these verses:2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.Romans 6:14 For sin will not rule over you, because you a not under the law but under grace.Christ’s power and our salvation is based on grace. As for me and my house, we choose grace, through Christ alone.We pray that you have a vibrant biblical community in which you can discuss those questions and meditate on those verses. We would love to help facilitate your biblical community in discipleship and encouragement through our ministry at Clear View Retreat. Your families need you because today’s crazy world is not biblical community. May the Lord bless you this week.Go therefore and be full of grace today!