Do you have your community?

My cousin and I were talking a few weeks ago when I asked “Do you have a community? If yes, who are they?”. While some answers were provided, this question stuck with me and I’d like to ask you, who is your community?

Since everyone has a different understanding of community, what’s your own definition? (kindly take some time here to answer this).

The Cambridge dictionary defines community as: the people living in one particular area or people who are considered as a unit because of their common interests, social group, or nationality.

Comparing your own definition with Cambridge’s, what’s common? Or Do you agree with the definition? If No, I’d like to hear why in the comments section.

Do you have a (Church) community?

If you’re wondering, these are some examples of a community: Church, Friendship circle, Career community, Language learning community, etc.

I’d like to place some emphasis on this portion as there are so many beliefs out there. If you aren’t Christian and you found this article, welcome! I suggest you read this article before continuing.

If you’re Christian and about to skip, please don’t.

In the grand scheme of things, God never intended for a Christian to be isolated. While Christianity has the place of personal walk with God, the idea is that you find community in Church. Not eye service or fake but real community.

Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. This is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.
Hebrews 10:24‭-‬25 TPT

As we’re in the era of streaming Church online, you may say I have a community online. That’s not bad, but belonging to a local Bible believing Church is so much better. You can fellowship physically & people can reach out if they don’t see you and help you when the need arises.

For my darling Christian brethren who have experienced Church hurt, God wants you to know this.

Assuming you have a local church, who knows you? My Mum says this: Do you go in through the front door and leave through the back door? It means do you stay long enough for people to say hi and get to know you?

If No, this is the year to change for the better.

Are you growing in their company?

In my view, if you have a community and you aren’t growing, there’s a problem. Considering Jesus and His disciples, the more time they spent together, the more it reflected in their individual lives. The connection was clear

Here are a few questions to ask:

• Can you bring your problems to them and ask for help?
• Is your mind being renewed in their company?
• Do you learn new things from your community or you’re forever at the same level?
• Are you being placed down making you think you won’t amount to much?

In case you’re in a Church where you aren’t finding community, it’s time to start asking questions. As you answer these, ask God for direction and reach out to people, you may need to challenge the setting.

The Every other community category

As I grow career-wise, I realize the need to reach out to people to build my skills. Am I afraid to reach out? Yes but it’s all to my benefit.

The same should apply to friendship circles and all those other communities you have. If you aren’t growing, start re-evaluating to find the source of the challenge.

This year, the community you belong to will determine how far you see and achieve. How far do you want to go?

Read previous article: What are the traits of a Christian?

Thank you for reading – Funmi