Topic: Lasting Change Requires a Small Group [RICK WARREN Devotional 1 January 2024]
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Lasting Change Requires a Small Group
BY RICK WARREN — JANUARY 1, 2024
FROM GOD’S AMAZING PROMISES
“Tell each other the truth, because we all belong to each other in the same body.”
Ephesians 4:25 (NCV)
When you decide you want to make a change, you may be eager to jump in and start the process on your own. But you’re never going to succeed without the support of a few trusted people in your life. God did not make us to go through life alone. We’re better together.
Lasting change requires community. There are some things in your life so big that you need a team to tackle them. In American football, an opposing player may be so big that no one person can bring him down on their own. It takes several players working together to tackle him. In the same way, you need people who will support you and help you tackle some tough areas in your life. You need a small group.
A small group is just that—a small group of people. You can’t be honest and transparent about big changes in your life with 25 people. But you can find a group of five or six people that you can be authentic with. You don’t have to bare your soul with everybody you know. You don’t need to tell everybody what you’re working on—but you do need to tell somebody.
If you’re serious about changing, growing, and resetting your life, then you’re going to have to face your fear about being gut-level honest with just a few people. The moment you tell just one person about the changes you believe God wants you to make, you get instant power you never had in any other way. You have someone to walk with you through it. You have someone to help carry the emotional load.
Ephesians 4:25 says, “Tell each other the truth, because we all belong to each other in the same body” (NCV). What is this “same body” where we all belong to each other? It’s not your neighborhood or your work or your school. It’s God’s family. And, as a Christian, you belong to God’s family.
You will only become what God wants you to be by sharing your life with a small group of people who will love you, hold you up, and encourage you as you reset your life.
Talk It Over
- What fears do you have about being honest and transparent with Christian friends? Do you believe other people have the same fears?
- How has a small group of Christian friends helped you grow and change into the person God made you to be?
- If you are not part of a small group, what step can you take today to start finding or making plans with friends that can be your support? This may include asking a couple of friends out for coffee or praying that God would show you friends that also need the support of a small group.
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