Pastor Rick Warren: You Will Not Change without Community

You Will Not Change without Community
by Rick Warren

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (Romans 12:4-5 NLT).

You will not make all the changes you need to make, want to make, would love to make, plan to make, or dream to make by yourself. If you could, you would. But you can’t, so you won’t!

The Bible says in Romans 12:4-5, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (NLT).
God wired the universe in such a way that we need each other. The phrase “one another” is used 58 times in the New Testament: Love one another, care for one another, encourage one another, support one another, pray for one another, greet one another, share with one another. God never meant for you to go through life as a lone ranger. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto! God didn’t design you to go through life by yourself. Whether you ever marry or not is irrelevant. You need a spiritual family, and you need to be in a small group.
You need me, and I need you. You need the people around you, and they need you. We belong to each other.
A lot of good self-help books will tell you the right thing to do, but they don’t provide the two things the Bible says you must have: God’s power and community. That’s what you need to really change. Change requires community.
At Saddleback Church, we’ve got people from every kind of background. We speak 65 languages at our church and have members from many different religious and ethnic backgrounds.
But what we have in common is our love for Jesus Christ. That unites us and allows us to help each other out.
Galatians 3:28 says, “In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus” (NCV).
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

What changes do you want to make in your life this year? What goals have you set?
How will the support of the people closest to you help you accomplish those goals?
What keeps you from accepting or asking for help from other people?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.