Friday, January 25, 2013

Community: I Need You (part 1)












  

 

 

I Need You...

So...I want to be honest, this might be because I'm an extrovert, but I get DEPRESSED when I'm not around people for a long time. I don't know why...but I'm very glad that God has given me this very present need for community.
For some reason I have this need for people to be in my life on a constant basis.

I think that God does this for a reason. The need for community is from God he put this in us.

why???

  • We are created in His Image
  • God has perfect community and unity within the trinity
  • because of this we have an urge to be in community and unified with other people

Even with this urge to be around people I can forget that I need people. We have to be around peoole...we cannot live the life that God has called us to live without it. It's impossible.

Jesus said that
 they will know that you are my disciples because of your love
So if we don't have community. If we feel like it's too much of a hassle to have to deal with people or that I don't have time to invest love into people a few things can happen

1. The life that you are called to live in Jesus will be more weight than you can handle
2. You won't see Jesus for who He really is
3. Others won't get an accurate view of who Jesus is

We must realize that community is not a comfort it is an urgent need in our lives. God has made us to where we cannot function properly without it. Even with this internal pressure to be around people I forget that I need you.

Sometimes I don't want to Admit that I need people. 

Sometimes the people I don't like are the people I need the most.

I believe that our independence is a very important quality. I think that we do need to be able to stand up on our own two feet. If you are an Independent person than community looks like this for you:
A group of Independent people who willfully choose to include and depend on other people in their lives.
We can do a number of things by ourselves, but when we choose to include other people, when we decide that I need other people and that they need to be needed than we open ourselves up to a world and a life that Jesus knew would be the most fulfilling for us. 

I would say that I'm pretty independent in some aspects and dependent in others. Like...I hate receiving money to help out with bills or if I'm running low. I feel like I should be the one who other people should depend on not the other way around. But I force myself to take the help...why?

  • It reminds me that I need other people in my life
  • It lets that person feel needed
  • It lets people into my life 
That last one makes me feel a little bit of anxiety. Because what we don't realize is that if we're always the one giving to others...If we're always the one having other people depend on us....And we're never the ones receiving or being dependent on other people...Then we're able to distance ourselves from people. We don't have to show vulnerability to anyone else and we can maintain this image of how strong we are because of how many people we're helping.

In reality...

It's fear.

We're afraid that if we accept help from others they might think
we're weak

or that we can't take care of ourselves.

It's pride.

And it's keeping us from living the life that God wants for us.


What I'm saying is that I need you 
But my pride is telling me that I don't.
So I must combat it.

I need you because:
I'm broken
I'm selfish
I need help...in almost every way possible lol
I can't function and live life the way that it's supposed to be lived without you
...reference to David Guetta's song "without you" lol


 

I just thought I would throw that in there for kicks.
and it's a fun song...

What are some ways that we can remind ourselves on a regular basis that we need people?

What are some ways that we can remind ourselves that we are needed by other people?

Give me some thoughts...

-Sam