Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World Read Online Free PDF

your affections? Who is in the center of your identity? We all have a choice. The answer will determine whether you live fulfilled or repeatedly disappointed.
    If God is in the center of our relational circle, we will be fulfilled, and out of that fulfillment we can bless others. But if people are in the center of our relational circle, we end up pulling on others to meet needs that they can’t ever fully meet.

    Jesus said it clearest. When asked to name the greatest commandment, He said all the commandments could be boiled down to this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [4]
    When you have God in the right place, at the center ofyour affections, you will more likely get people right. So, yes, that relationship comes first, but that relationship is meant to send us into loving others.
    God Desires Community for Us
     
    Throughout Scripture we see that God keeps building communities. In the Old Testament He starts with a family. That family becomes a people group. That people group grows into the nation of Israel. Throughout the New Testament you see God’s heart for the local church.
    This is the way God moves throughout history. Family, community, a nation, and local church that reaches the world. God loves us to be together. God loves us to be on mission together. God loves us to worship Him together. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” [5] We know that our togetherness matters to God.
    The Bible was penned in the context of people daily living interconnected lives. The teachings of Scripture to Israel and to the Church assume people belonging to and depending on a group. In fact throughout most of the Bible, when it says “you,” the original Hebrew and Greek languages nearly always indicate a plural form: you all (or y’all, depending on how godly y’all are).
    The Bible doesn’t speak to individuals. It’s written for people living out their faith together!
    And this all matters so much because…
We make each other better. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” [6]
    We remind each other of God and His plans for us. “That you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” [7]
    We fight for each other to not be distracted by sin. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” [8]
    We complete each other. “As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” [9]
    We need each other to live out the purposes of God. “Each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts.” [10]
    How arrogant are we to think that even though the God of the universe exists in community, our little fragile finite selves can survive without it? No, there is a beautiful God-built plan for having our souls be full, satisfied.
    If this plan is so good for us, why don’t we just prioritize this plan, fight for this plan, and make this plan unfold every day of our lives?
    Two words:
the enemy.
    The Enemy Hates Community
     
    Think about it: if God is relationship and He created us for relationship, then guess who hates it?
    I mean, if deep, loving, intimate connection is God’s goal, then the enemy might hate nothing more than for you and me to enjoy deep, loving, intimate connection! And that’s why this isn’t a feel-good book about how to make friends. This is a depiction of war, a description of two distinct sides, and a reminder that everything is at stake.
    No wonder it feels like every aspect of our lives is stacked against our connection to other people.
    It is.
    That enemy seeks to destroy this good thing God created on the earth out of His love. The enemy wants to divide us. Rather than fighting for each other, he wants to see us fighting against each other. He wants to