There are no better people to do life with

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Take care of yourself”

Our Bible verse for today: “Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.” 1 Peter 3:8 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “There are no better people to do life with”

Mental health professionals report that loneliness is one of the greatest threats to the mental and physical health of Americans today. Loneliness has a serious negative impact on the overall quality of a person’s life, and it is rapidly increasing in our society. More people report feeling lonely now than ever before.

Steve DeWitt is the senior pastor of a large non-denominational church and has been the pastor of that church since 1997. He spent the first twenty-one years of his adult life (his description was “8000 nights”) as a single man. It’s not that he didn’t want to be married, he just never met the right woman (he finally got married in his forties and now has two children). One Christian magazine wrote that as far as they could find, Steve was the only single senior pastor of a mega-church in America.

Steve says that during those years many people assumed that because he was single, he must also be lonely. And, sometimes he was. But much of the time he was not. He noted that “Being alone and being lonely are not the same thing.” There are many people who are single and alone but who have full and rewarding lives; and there are many married people who although they are not technically alone, they are still lonely because theirs is not a good marriage.

Steve wrote a book about his experiences as a single pastor. The title is “Loneliness: Don’t Hate it or Waste it; Redeem It.” Although there are many helpful insights in the book for those whose life situations could produce a sense of feeling lonely, perhaps the most helpful insight pertains to the importance of being part of a good, healthy church family. Steve writes,

“God’s provision to a lonely world is a local, spiritually healthy, gospel-preaching, community-serving, one-another-loving, local church.” He also declared, “When a local church is on it’s A-game, there are no better people to do life with.” (Can I get an “Amen!”?)

We all experience loneliness at different times and for different reasons. You may be single and never married; or you may be divorced; or you may be a widow or widower; or you could be married but not in a good relationship; or perhaps you don’t have many friends; or, maybe, you are lonely for other reasons. But being alone doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. God’s answer for all of us is to be fully involved in the life of a good church.

When it comes to taking good care of yourself one of the best things you can do is to be active in a good church because, when a church is filled with healthy, spiritually mature Christians who truly love and care for each other, there are no better people to do life with.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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