We Need Each Other
by Brandy Webb
A little time ago, I went to one of the most beautiful memorials I have ever been to. It was for a young man who had died completely unexpectedly. He was fine one moment, and then the next he collapsed on his living room floor, gone, leaving a young wife and three young children. It is extremely heartbreaking. The death of a loved one is the most punch-in-the-gut sad life experiences that I can’t wait to finally end.
Well, his memorial was just beautiful because of the love that his family and friends had for each other. I saw them stand before everyone and share stories that brought laughter and stories that brought tears, and the whole time they were constantly reminding all of us that despite their loss, God is good. I witnessed a strength that could only come from our Heavenly Father in all of them, especially the young man’s wife, who was the last of the family to share her love story. They wanted God’s light to shine, and I believe it did. They also admitted that they wouldn’t be able to get through this without God and the love from each other.
What truth—we we need God, and we need each other. God did not create man to live alone and to walk this earth alone. Do you realize how hard it is for iron to sharpen iron if there is not another piece of iron? Or how hard it is to pray for others if you don’t have anyone to pray for? Or how hard it is to walk as a body if there aren’t other members to walk with you? We are here to help each other, to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Remember, “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. For if one falls down his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:10).
Think about the wise words from Solomon from a spiritual perspective and not a physical one. Blessed is the one who, when walking in this spiritual wilderness, this world that is ruled by the evil one, has someone who can lift them up when they stumble. Blessed is the one who doesn’t have to walk alone. I know that we have the Father and Jesus Christ; therefore, we are not ever fully alone. However, isn’t it so much easier to walk in Christ when you have others who are also striving to do the same thing to help encourage you and you to encourage them?
We need each other. We may not always get along. We may not always agree on everything, yet, this is how we grow, learn, and walk in love, when we walk together and not alone. We are to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Witnessing the love I saw during a very sad occasion made me realize the importance of being there for each other. To have each other to laugh with when we are joyful, to cry with when we are mournful, to lift us up when we feel defeated, to pray for us when we need it, and to love us despite our differences. This is what it means to be Christ-like, when we love one another (John 13:34). Therefore, let us make sure that we do “not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).