What comes to mind when you think of the word “alone?” If you are an extrovert, this word probably causes fear and anxiety. Of course, if you are an introvert, this word probably brings a lot of excitement as you think about uninterrupted time to yourself. The truth is, whether we are the most introverted person in the world or the most extroverted, we need to live life alongside other people. None of us were meant to live life alone. We need each other to walk alongside one another in life and help each other as we seek to be fully devoted followers of Christ.
We can read about the importance of living in community throughout Scripture, starting with the book of Genesis. Genesis 1 records the creation of the world in 6 days. Each day, God created something different, from the sky to the waters, plants to animals, to the first person. At the end of each day, God declared what He created to be "good." Genesis 2 elaborates on His creation. As God evaluated the pinnacle of His creation, the first person, Adam, there was one thing that was not good. It was not good, God said, that Adam was alone. As a result, God created Eve to walk alongside Adam and help him. Even from the beginning of time, God knew that humans were not meant to live in isolation, whether we are the most introverted introvert or the most extroverted extrovert.
Simply put, we need each other. We need each other to walk through this life together. We need to encourage one another, fight for each other as we seek to grow in our faith, and help one another to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
What about you? Are you living life in isolation, trying to walk through this life and follow Christ on your own? It is time to come out of isolation. Seek out people who are following Christ to live in community with. Perhaps you already have a community of Christ followers with whom you are living life. Every day, you are surrounded by people who live in isolation, feeling lonely. Who do you know who is lonely, living a life in isolation? Reach out to them today, letting them know that they don't have to live life alone in isolation. After all, life is better lived in community.
Is there someone in your life who you know is lonely? Invite them today to grab a coffee or join you for a meal. Your invitation will not only encourage them, but it will encourage you as you take steps to live life alongside others instead of living in isolation.
1So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 “At last!” the man exclaimed.
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”
24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
