Our family is in the midst of one of the busiest weeks of our year as Amy directs the all school musical at our kids' elementary school (All City). Every kid from K-5th Grade (around 125 kids) is involved and many of the parents have put in countless hours to help make it happen. It is a huge undertaking and another example to me of how much can be accomplished in community. If Amy had to do it all on her own it would kill her, the parents would be more negative about the process and the quality of the production would suffer greatly. Instead, it winds up being one of the most unifying events of the entire school year where we all celebrate the final product as a victory for the entire All City community.
I've been thinking of how this is also true of our spiritual walk. When we do it on our own we have a tendency to give up when it gets hard or to simply slip into a complacency where our walk loses priority as it is slowly squeezed out by whatever other activity, task or external demand screams at us the loudest. In the process it slowly chokes the life out of our relationship with God.
We also will find ourselves lacking the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) in such a way that it is highly unlikely that we will be a blessing to others. In the process, we will become less grace-filled and loving in the way we respond to the world around us and our words and actions will be more critical which will leave us much more open to the criticism of others.
I'm so glad to get to serve in an area that helps people realize how desperately we need each other. My hope is that community becomes infectious and that as we experience life together, God is glorified in each of us.
