it's a word that we tend to use often. i use it very often. but what does it mean?
first, a definition:
community |kəˈmyoōnitē|
noun ( pl. -ties)
1 a group of people living together in one place, esp. one practicing common ownership.
2 [usu. with adj. ] a group of people having a religion, race, profession, or other particular characteristic in common.
3 a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
added together, i would say 'community' sounds a little like this:
a group of people with common attitudes, interests and goals living in fellowship together.
fantastic. but what does that look like practically, and directly in relation to girls ministry?
it looks like this:
it's girls gathered around a table talking about what their lives are like, how they see God and what they wish their relationships with God looked like.
it's a senior high girl taking a junior high girl out for coffee just to talk.
it's hugging our sisters as they tell us about their struggles with eating disorders and self-harming.
it's not being afraid to tell a girl that her relationship with her boyfriend is not honoring God and not healthy for her.
it's encouraging our sister that her relationship with her mom & dad is important and worth working for.
it's crying together because you can feel the pain and the weight of the world our sisters carry.
it's confronting our sister when she has done something that was offensive or hurtful.
it's waking up in the middle of the night to take a phone call from a girl who just needs someone to listen to her.
it's teaching our sisters that they have a purpose in this life & helping them find that purpose.
it's telling them every day that they are children of God and that continually walking in His Spirit is the best form of worship they can offer back to Him.
it's reminding them that they have been set free because of Jesus' love, mercy & grace.
it's a senior high girl taking a junior high girl out for coffee just to talk.
it's hugging our sisters as they tell us about their struggles with eating disorders and self-harming.
it's not being afraid to tell a girl that her relationship with her boyfriend is not honoring God and not healthy for her.
it's encouraging our sister that her relationship with her mom & dad is important and worth working for.
it's crying together because you can feel the pain and the weight of the world our sisters carry.
it's confronting our sister when she has done something that was offensive or hurtful.
it's waking up in the middle of the night to take a phone call from a girl who just needs someone to listen to her.
it's teaching our sisters that they have a purpose in this life & helping them find that purpose.
it's telling them every day that they are children of God and that continually walking in His Spirit is the best form of worship they can offer back to Him.
it's reminding them that they have been set free because of Jesus' love, mercy & grace.
'to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.' romans 8:6
today as i was reading in romans, i was reminded of the power of teaching how to live in the Spirit of God. how comforting to know that we have been adopted by a Heavenly Father and that we are born in His Spirit? how wonderful the knowledge that even if our earthly fathers have abandoned or mistreated us, there is a Father who loves us, has never left us and who never will.
ladies. know that no matter your circumstance, you have been brought into a community of people who walk in the Spirit of Jesus. you have a Heavenly Father who has always accepted you and never left you.
to those of you who have a community of people who have the same attitudes, ideals & goals, be encouraged and blessed by them. trust them. help them. comfort them. love them.
and because you have experienced such a community through Christ, it should be the urging in your heart to invite others to experience that community with you. we were meant to live life with the children of God. we were meant to tell people of the family God provides through belief in His Son.
if you experience that community in your life right now, who are you going to tell? who will you invite to be a part of that life?
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