Six weeks ago, my husband and I were asked if we would like to receive marriage counseling by a couple in the church (Paul and Elizabeth Snyder). As I type, the Snyders depart Alaska for their next assignment today. I don’t have children but packing up a whole house to move to a foreign country with three kids sounds like it would be tiring, busy, and stressful.  Yet, they asked themselves, “How can we serve others before we leave?”   Their last evening together in Alaska was spent providing our last marriage counseling session with them.  Both my husband and I learned communication tools that we will journey with us forever, but the gesture of them leaving and offering their time to us is a gesture that will never leave my heart.  I feel deeply moved and loved by God through them.  

Do I love like that?   

The commandment in this passage is simple, yet easy to forget.  Love God first, and love others second. Period. In John 17, the entire chapter is a prayer from Jesus, and He prays that believers would be united so that we may experience glory.  So often, I forget that I need people, and I forget that people need me, too.  It’s easy to get caught up with life and tasks, and to forget that we need each other.  

Many of us believe we can handle problems on our own.  We can hide that our marriage is struggling.  We can hide our disappointments and shame and we think we are doing just fine. We can smile at church, and cry alone at night or resort to an addiction. It’s a lie that we can make it on our own.  We may physically survive, but that isn’t living well.  Scripture states clearly that we are meant to be a family in Christ.  Your image of family may be skewed if your home-life was not healthy growing up, and it may even be skewed if you’ve been hurt by the church. I don’t know you, the reader today, but I encourage you to dive deeper into the body of Christ.  Find a group.  Find somewhere to serve.  If you feel like you have nothing to offer, then find someone to bear your burden.   If you have a lot of people around your cup is full, then ask God who it can overflow to.   

I’ve lived my life very alone for a few years earlier in my life, and though I thought I was doing okay, I was not.  When we think we need no-one, that is when we are on shaky ground.  It still takes work to live in community, but that is when Christ flows through us.  We are not meant to do life alone!  I feel so much gratitude for the Snyders pouring their wisdom to us, and I wish to pay it forward and do this for others, too. 

Know that you are loved.  Know that He calls us to live in community because it is good for us. 

Love God first, and love others well.