Building a Community of Faith
One of the most frightening parts of my journey so far, walking with God, was community. And it had every right to be, because of my bad judgment and lack of discernment in the past. Trying to figure out who I am led me to some draining people. Even when I started recognizing this pattern of being around people who weren’t draining the light out of me, I found myself next around people who saw my light and were lowkey intimidated by it. This caused me to put up a wall of paranoia; it gave the enemy a foothold in my mind that I was better off being alone. I started to believe people wanted to get close to me to dim my light. The whole time, it was me putting a lampshade on myself. Proverbs 19:11 states, “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” This taught me not to be so easily offended by what people say or do, but instead to be cautious about how to move forward with them. Most importantly, I still remind myself that it’s not the person who’s going against me most of the time (Ephesians 6:12). It took a different kind of trust in God to know He’ll place me in front of the right people, and He’ll prune off what isn’t producing fruit. And honestly, I’ve gotten to where I can appreciate a few solid people in my corner who genuinely love me and are there when I need them. People who have good intentions in stewarding our relationship well, and will lead me to the cross when I’m struggling to get there on my own. I believe that as long as I’m doing my part and giving the only thing I owe, which is love. God never intended us to do life alone; in fact, that was the first bad thing in the bible. So I knew God had a group of people waiting to embrace me somewhere, and I just kept following His lead there’s nothing to worry about.
Community is vital for spiritual growth. Here’s how to build one:
- Pray to God about planting you in a fruitful local church.
- Participate in online faith groups.
- Host Bible study sessions with friends.
Together, we can uplift and encourage one another!