Community: Living Together as the Body of Christ

     The Body of Christ, the church, is meant to work together to accomplish the purposes of God. Likewise, the family and specifically, the marriage relationship, is a microcosm of this function - in fact, marriage and family came before the church and is supposed to reflect the very nature of God - community - working together in unity and singleness of purpose. Yet, so often we see division and diversity of purpose in marriage, family, and the church.

     The problem is that many people have bought into the cultural ideal that the individual comes first. It is all about me; make me happy or I am moving on - to another relationship, church, or community. God’s plan is for oneness in marriage; unity without separation. His plan is that the Body of Christ would work together for His glory, not work as individuals for our own glory.

     Friends, we have got to stop thinking as individuals, as lone islands in the sea of humanity. We were created for a purpose; God’s purpose of being light to a dark world; of being a testimony to His love and goodness. We are that light and testimony when we live in community - living in unity, harmony, and working together. We must reject the ideals of the culture and embrace God’s view of marriage and the church; giving up our rights to do whatever we please, living in community and sharing our lives with the person we committed our life to.

More on this subject in my article:  The Marriage Relationship and the Individual

Grace: Offering love, kindness, and goodwill to your spouse

     The Chinese Christian leader, Watchman Nee wrote, "It is exceedingly ugly in the sight of God for the forgiven person to be unforgiving, for the one who has received mercy to be merciless, and for the one to whom He has given grace to not be gracious to others." Yet, too often, we, who have received much grace, do not offer grace to our spouse - the person we profess to love more than anyone else in the world.

     Your spouse will fall short; he or she will sin in some way on a pretty regular basis. You will have arguments and will probably say hurtful things to one another. Extending the frace you have received from God to your spouse is essential to a Christian marriage, a marriage according to God's design. This doesn't mean that you don't address sin, but criticizing every mistake and lapse of your spouse will only drive you apart. Judging your spouse and getting them to do things right is not your job, leave that to God.

     Grace requires humility; you will not give grace when you judge your spouse or think yourself better than him or her. You must examine your own motives; are you focused on the wrong your spouse does? Or are you focused on helping him or her become a better person? Grace seeks the best for your spouse and the Bible teachs that your are to give your spouse grace - to offer love, kindness, and goodwill even if they don't do things right.