Strive

 ‘Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…’ Philippians 1:27

Striving: To exert oneself vigorously, try hard, make strenuous effort toward any goal, to struggle vigorously.  

Striving is not only to exert yourself and try hard, but it’s also to STRUGGLE vigorously. When I strive for something it’s a half packed punch with no energy behind it that doesn’t hit the mark and couldn’t even bruise sensitive skin. I give up easily, I get deterred easily, I get frustrated easily, and I get beat down easily by my defeat.

So to strive is already a struggle in itself, but then to strive side by side, in a community, is another struggle for an introvert like me. However, numerous times throughout the Bible God is telling us to live as one body (side by side) 

‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.’ 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

‘For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.’ Romans 12:4-5

So as one body we strive together. When one slips we catch them and help them up. When one struggles we listen. When one rejoices we rejoice….

‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.’ Romans 12:15-16

This week has been a week of me listening to God. 

-To be intentional with people. To put myself out there and be vulnerable.


-To struggle. Struggling isn’t a bad thing, it is what is needed of us to make it through the swim upstream.

-To build community and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And not just the ones I am comfortable with, but all of them because we are of ONE BODY, ONE MIND, ONE SPIRIT, AND ONE HEART!