Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World

by Jennie Allen

We’ve replaced intrusive, real conversations with small talk, and we’ve substituted soul-baring,

deep, connected living with texts and a night out together every once in a while,

God built us for deep connection to be part of our day-in, day-out lives, not just once in a while in the presence of a paid therapist.

We live guarded because we fear someone will use our weakness against us.

Outside of Jesus, relationships are the greatest gifts we have on earth and simultaneously the most difficult part of being alive.

When you have God in the right place, at the center of your affections, you will more likely get people right.

“The more resources a person gets, the more walls he or she puts up. And the more lonely they become.”

You will disappoint me. I will disappoint you. God will never disappoint us.

What if we chose people in our lives who challenged us to be better each time we were together?

What if we shared a deeper purpose in our relationships? What if we stayed instead of quitting each other when it gets difficult?

Community should, in its truest form, reflect aspects of who God is and how He loves.

To have deeper conversations, we have to learn the art of asking more intentional questions.

“What are you longing for?” “What is making you anxious?”

build an environment to have great conversations.

Complaining seeks relief. Vulnerability seeks transformation and connection.

healthy relationships thrive when they are connected to a shared mission and purpose.

Choose friends who have the potential to make you better. Then allow them to do just that.

“True discipleship doesn’t happen out there; it happens in a home.

We can let them disappoint us and just let it go.

When someone says you’ve caused them pain or harm, be quick to apologize and ask what you can do to make amends.

Relationships always go wrong when God is not in the center.

If a culture feels unsafe, then you have no place to thrive, no place to share your issues, your weaknesses, your failures. You have no place to be broken.