Knit Together part 1
This Rant series kind of dovetails off of the last one, and really just continues on with the theme that has been heavy on my heart. I say this at work all the time, "We're all on the same team, right?" It doesn't have to be us vs them. When we stop focusing on what separates us and start focusing on what brings us together. When we stop focusing on our differences and start focusing on our similarities. Majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors, as one of my old pastors used to say. So let me drop my key memory verse: Colossians 2:2-3, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." There's a lot there. Which is why I want to spend the next few days unpacking it. In the last Rant series about being comforted we looked a little bit at our hearts being comforted. About God giving us what we need so that we can then give it to each other. Which, in a nutshell, is what being knit together in love is all about. Receiving and releasing the gift we've been giving. Sharing that gift of life with each other. Laying our lives down for our friends. Because we know that living and loving are not just connected... they are the same thing. And love is giving. So living is giving. Giving what you have. Who you are. Not trying to be someone you're not (in order to get something you think you haven't got), but simply being yourself. Giving yourself to the people in your life. Knitting yourself together with people in order to build those bonds and relationships. That's what this life is for. That's what this life is all about. It's a life of love. That's what Jesus was talking about when He said He had come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Because love is what makes the abundant life abundant. Love is what makes the world go 'round. Love is what it's all about. Our hearts being comforted... as we knit ourselves together in love. That threefold cord that is hard to break. You... me... and Jesus. We're all in this together. None of us can do it alone. None of us are supposed to do it alone. We need each other. And that's not weakness, that's wisdom. Asking for help when you need it is about as wise as it gets. But it can also be a little bit scary. I get that. If you ask for help, the person you're asking can either say yes... or no. And if they say no, well, that's not a great place to find yourself. Needing help and not getting it. That's where a lot of bitterness and resentment can come from. I said "can." I didn't say "has to." Because sometimes people won't help you because they CAN'T help you. Sometimes people are barely hanging on, and they can't give something they don't have. That's when we need to have understanding, and compassion, even in the midst of our own need. That's when we really need to be TOGETHER, instead of just focused on ourselves. Relationships aren't just about getting what you want (or think you need). Love is giving. We knit ourselves together with each other by giving ourselves to each other. Not by taking from each other.