More Than a Community
"Love is large and incredibly patient! Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one's achievements, nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong, Love is a sale place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (TPI).
Can this love that Paul writes about to the Corinthians turn a community into a family? I would say the short answer is yes — by connecting with others in our own sphere of influence and meeting people where they are, one interaction at a time. It's important to meet people where they are ….. and to not try to change them, fix them, or correct them, but instead recognize where they are in that very moment. Meet them in their greatest joy or deepest pain.
At times, when words simply will not form in your mouth, just acknowledge, "I don't know what to say to you right now, but what I do know is that I want to be here for you." When you are able to say that to another human being, they immediately feel connected to you, understood by you, and they may not feel alone anymore = fostering a sense of belonging — like family.
God has His own version of "meeting people where they are," and it's found in Romans 12:15:
"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
How beautiful ... how perfect ... how just like God! 'This extraordinary passage of Scripture implies that if there is reason to celebrate, then celebrate joyfully. And if there is reason for weeping, then weep and do so deeply. God is the creator and author of all emotions, meant to be felt and expressed both as individuals and together in community.
President Abraham Lincoln confirmed a most familiar proverb to the United States:
“Actions speak louder than words."
Interestingly, we also find this phrase in Scripture through the words of John in 1 John 3:18 (NLT).
"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions."
In today's language, 1 John 3:18 just might say, "Love shows up!"
I experienced this on a very personal level just recently when my mother passed away.
Community became family to me by way of the same kind of love I have written about in this article. God's own people were, in fact, the hands and feet of Jesus to me and my family in very practical ways - they just met me where I was and supplied my every need. And if they didn't know what to do, they prayed or sent a giftcard or brought a coffee to me or delivered food or sent a text of encouragement and the list goes on and on because love shows up in many ways and in different forms. It sacrifices for those it serves.
So, I ask again, can the love Paul speaks of turn a community into a family? I would say it's a matter of the heart — and how much we desire connection. I do know the more we look beyond ourselves, the closer we bond to others; and the more we serve each other, the more we begin to look like family.
*Celebrate Arkansas - May 2022