We Need Each Other

Dear Sisters, we really do need each other.  We live in a world where we impose all kinds of busyness on ourselves and are just swept along with the tide of family activities.  Both of those things regularly keep women from creating community with other women.

In my experience, most Christian women go to Church weekly but they don’t find a welcoming group of friends who know them and whom they know well.  Are you one of them?

Most of the Christian women I have ever known  have had only superficial relationships with other Churched friends. For several reasons, Churched women have a very hard time growing close. One thing that hinders us is our lack of sharing anything personal and important. We sometimes share prayer requests but it rarely gets any more personal than the initial sharing.

Because we have no real sense of community with other women, very few of us have close friends. How many women do you know who would say they have lots of acquaintances, and a lot of women they know, but no close friends?

Most women I know would say they are lonely. Many of those women would say they are too busy to stop and think about it but when they do think about it, it makes them sad. They feel regret for not getting to know other Christian women well  but they don’t know how to go about getting a friend like that much less two or three.

Then there is that whole group of women who are not busy, who have grown children and perhaps lost a spouse and they are just frankly bored and lonely. They lack that community of friends who could encourage them to godly pursuits or just provide companionship.

A community of Christian women is a precious thing. It includes friends that share, trust and call on one another for emotional support and prayer no matter what is going on in life.  Women need friends who won’t gossip about them or make them feel like failures. Women need friends who are true and who love at all times, even when they aren’t very lovable. And we are all unlovable at times, aren’t we?

Do you know why things like scrap-booking, quilting and all kinds of crafting events at Church are so very important?  Its because they bring women together over a common interest and those women can enjoy just being together and talking.  Its so important to talk. And talk.  Because in between looking at someone’s scrapbook and talking about the kids….. defenses are let down, people relax and begin to trust and then they talk about what is really on their minds.

And then the very spiritual and godly things happen that are meant to happen. The older women teach what is good, train the young women to love their husbands and children,  to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

That’s how it can happen at your Church, too.  But you have to be purposeful about it. You  mustn’t say, “I can’t” or “I won’t”.  If you are reading this and you are feeling that familiar tug of your heart by the Holy Spirit, then you must answer. It won’t happen if you don’t pray and ask God to move and work in your Church and be willing to be His instrument to bring community to your sisters in Christ.