“Love your brothers and sisters in God's family.” (1 Peter 2:17b NCV)
We long to belong.
The Bible tells us that all believers “belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” (Ephesians 2:19 TLB) This means church is not something we go to, rather it’s something we belong to – a family of God’s people. It’s more than an organization, more than an institution, even more than a group of like-minded people.
We are a family forged by the fires of God’s love, and we are to “be devoted to each other like a loving family.” (Romans 12:10a GW) We are to love one another like brothers and sisters. This sense of family togetherness allows us to create authentic Christian community, where we are accepted, supported, and challenged to fully live out the purposes of our lives. We belong, and we help others belong.
Family is synonymous with a deep, unwavering commitment to support one another, no matter how rough it may get. You do things for family you wouldn’t do for any one else, and you make allowances for family members you might not make for anyone else.
For many of us, this image of family fails because we’ve never really been in a loving, wholesome family. We’ve only seen broken models, shattered relationships, and hurting hearts. The Good News is that God wants to provide you with the very things you’ve longed for in a family, and he can do that in Christian community.
As we learn to love one another, we can create the sense of family necessary to trust one another, accept one another, and serve one another. We learn the power of unconditional love. Our small groups – family circles – are meant to be Holy Spirit-led laboratories for learning to love one another deeply and earnestly (1 Th. 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22).