An Ideal Community

As we step into the community God desires for us, we also find that God gives those who follow Him great gifts. And when we allow the Holy Spirit to use those gifts to serve others, those gifts sometimes show up in supernatural ways. How can we begin to better understand God’s giftings and how He intends for us to use them in community?

When you are part of something bigger than yourself— a job, family, or organization, for instance—you experience how everyone has a role to play in order for everything to run smoothly. In God’s family, His Church, it’s no different. He gifted each and every one of us with a spiritual ability to do something important and necessary that can impact everyone around us. How has God gifted you? Bonus Reading from Not Like Me – Chapter 7, and Chapter 10.

God’s hope is to bring people from all nations, tribes, languages, and ethnicities together into one family. It’s why Jesus came to die for all of us. But oftentimes, this harmonious diverse community is not at all our experience. What leads us to issues in our diverse communities, and how can we overcome the barriers that plague us?

We all long for an ideal community—one where we’re understood, loved, and supported. But that type of community doesn’t come over night. Along the journey to finding a group of folks to do life with, we all face real struggle. How can we build the type of community God wants us to have in our lives, despite the fact that real people come with real problems?