Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 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. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Romans 12:3-8

Dear God, this is one of those lessons that bears repeating. You didn’t design us to be effective on our own. We need community. Adam needed community.

This is a little different take on this, but this morning I’m thinking of the widows I know. There’s a woman I know in town who is stubbornly hanging on to her independence even though her health is failing and her friends are trying to get her to move into an assisted living place in town. She needs what these friends and others are offering her, but she isn’t willing to accept it.

Accepting what others have to offer us can be so hard. For the person with dementia who needs to yield some amount of control. For the worker who tries to do everything themselves instead of enjoying the camaraderie of a team and sharing the load.

As for me, in some ways I’m getting better at this and in others I’m still stuck in the “get out of my way and just let me do it” mode. But I really am getting better.

Father, help me to 1.) continue to improve in becoming part of your body and 2.) help others to overcome their resistance to the help you might have called me to give them. Help me to accept help and to give help freely. Do it all for your glory and your kingdom’s progression on Earth.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen