Two Are Better Than One - Part 2

I'm not sure that I said exactly what I wanted to say in my first comments on this. Allow me to further expound on this subject.
Our church lives and breathes by its community groups. Some call them small groups. We value genuine community at our church and this is where it comes closer to happening. I say "closer" because it still is lacking. It is a great first step, but generally you will find that it's not enough. You will want deeper study and you will want deeper friendships. I have been led to both of these through attending my community group. But it doesn't come without a fair amount of prayer and intentionality. What I referred to in my eariler post was "iron friends", my "accountability group" as some would refer to it. They are the ones who sharpen me as iron sharpens iron, like it says in Proverbs 27:17. I met Stephanie when I attended a community group led by Chuck, our pastor, specifically for newlyweds. Wow, that was about 4 or 5 years ago. Anyway, she was this funny, quirky, young redhead who attended most of the time without her husband who travelled, but I could tell she had a genuine relationship with God. It still took a while, but after several more meetings and other chances to talk, we became good friends, well on the way to being great friends. We quickly realized that we both had the same need: a friend who would tell it like it is, call sin sin, pray with and for me, encourage me, and grow with me. We started meeting weekly and I now can't imagine life without her. We soon included little Ms. Cynthia into our fold because, well, she had just married a good friend of ours and we knew enough about this focused girl to know that she needed the same thing.

I tell this story mainly to tell how I got to this great place of having such wonderful friends who help me grow. But please note, they do not create the growth, nor are they the reason for the growth, they simply help me see areas and situations where I have not applied the saving work of God to my life.

What easily happens is that we get off track from our purpose. We found ourselves getting together with the best of intentions but we would drink our coffee, talk about the circumstances in our lives, our calendars, our husbands, children, whatever, but never get to what God was doing. What was He teaching us? How was He transforming us? There was still some encouragement happening, but not the real stuff. What was our heart chasing after?

We have since recognized this, apologized for it and are making a return to the real questions and honest answers. It is a blessing to have these kinds of friends and, again, I pray that you will find them, too.