๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Recall a memorable moment with your friends. Share it with us.ย
โข Who are the friends you know with whom you can have difficult conversations? Why are you comfortable with them?
โข Have you argued with your close friends? If so, do you still consider them your close friends? Why or why not?ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด! ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต,โ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ!โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฏ-๐ฑ
(Read alsoย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ญโ๐ฎ, ๐ฒ.)
Discipleship is meant to be a shared journey with others. God sets us apart in a community, but relationships are messy. Different backgrounds, personalities, and preferences make it hard for us to walk with others even in our journey of following Jesus. It seems to be easier to just walk this life alone, but God did not design us that way. We need each other to survive and thrive in life and in our calling. So, how are we to live as a community? As the disciples followed Jesus, their differences and the many obstacles they faced proved to be a challenge. Today, letโs look at one of the lessons Jesus taught them about how they were to walk with one another.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.ย
โ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด! ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ . . .โ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฏ
As we follow Jesus, we will still struggle with sin and lifeโs challenges, and the people we walk with will, too. Because we value one another, we must not let each other fall into sin or in the wrong direction. Jesus urged His disciples to ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ to each otherโto take care of one another and to look out for one another in love. We are encouraged to call out each other to stop sin in its tracks. As a community set apart by God, this is our duty and commitment. This also means that we are not to become a stumbling block to each other. What does Jesus say in Luke 17:1โ2 about this?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ป.ย
โ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด! ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ . . .โ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฏ
When sin happens, it is our heart for those in our community to be restored to the Lord. This is where correction or rebuke comes in. We do this not because we want to feel highly or more righteous than those in our spiritual community, but because we want to lead them back to Jesus. Jesus urged His disciples to rebuke the brother who sins and to forgive him when he repents. As a loving, set apart community, we ought to be able to openly correct one another if we sin and to speak forgiveness, extending Godโs grace to each other. The goal is to restore the person to Christ, not to condemn. How have you experienced this in your community?ย
๐ฏ. ๐๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐.ย
โ. . . ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, โ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต,โ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โย ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ณ:๐ฐ
Hearing Jesusโ words must have confused and frustrated the disciples. โWhy should I forgive someone who wronged me? For seven times in fact!โ one must have thought. Walking with others will be hard, which is why love and forgiveness are necessary, even when we have to do it again and again and again. As a community set apart by God, He has called us together for His purpose. This means those He has placed around us arenโt optional but are God-given relationships. If we are to grow in our community, we should prioritize restoring one another, forgiving each other, letting go of our hurts and pains, humbly receiving correction, and pursuing reconciliation as necessary. What does Colossians 3:13 teach us about how we are to forgive?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Who do you allow to speak into your life? What are some proactive ways you can look out for each other in your community?
โข Whose lives do you lovingly speak into? In what ways can you grow your faith as you invest in your godly relationships?
โข This week, humbly seek forgiveness from someone you may have offended or wronged. What steps can you take as you seek the restoration of your relationship?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for putting you in a loving, thriving community. Bless those around you and encourage each other to fight for your community and your relationship with God.ย
โข Ask God for discernment or sensitivity to know if youโve wronged someone in your community. Pray for the person to experience healing and ask for his or her forgiveness.
โข Pray for someone who may have wronged you. Ask God for the grace to openly correct the person and for the love and humility to forgive him or her.ย