My Sister's Keeper

This is a subject I have thought about, struggled with, tried to understand for about the last 5 or so years. What does it look like? How do you do it? What do you share when you are not suppose to let people know how you struggle? This past Saturday we had a wonderful day of discussing just that and I want to share a few high lights from this time.

The first and most important thing is Jesus Christ! If you have been washed in His grace and salvation through the work He alone can do and did on the cross then the rest will follow if you allow it. The key is a relationship with Christ first and foremost. Without it you are lost and doomed to death. But in Christ we have life and we are kept by the One who has saved us from sin and death. He is our Keeper.

So if Jesus is my Keeper and He is your Keeper, then we are in turn to keep each other. But how? This is the part that is the struggle for everyone. It involves getting involved in people's lives and loving them the way that Christ loves us. We are naturally selfish beings who want what we want when we want it and want to do what we want to do when we want. So keeping each other can be a challenge when we say, "but I really don't want to do that" or "I really do not care what she has to say." We have to take us out of the equation and let the love of Christ flow through us. Remember we have been saved so we can help each other in Christ's strength.

It also includes being real with each other. We are ALL sinners. I repeat, we are ALL sinners and we ALL struggle with sin. It is life. It is the human condition. There are things that all of us are stronger at and those thinks at which we are weaker. So in areas where we are strong in Christ we can help and encourage those who are weaker. When we are weak we have Christ and those He has put in our lives to help and encourage us. Knowing that we are all sinners should drive us to love, compassion, grace and mercy for one another and in doing so we can help keep each other for Christ's sake. This also means we can confess our sin to one another, pray for each other and truly seek to be real about these struggles and weaknesses we have.

Knowing that we are perfectly cared for by our Savior frees us to care for others. We have everything in Christ so we are free to give and give generously. We are free from sinful comparing, feelings of alienation, jealousy, selfish ambition, man-pleasing, fear and self-condemnation. (And I definitely have at some point struggled with all of these and still struggle with many! Have you?) Confess these things to God and to others and let the healing and keeping begin. Focus on Christ and what He has done for you. This pushes down the road of sanctification. And trust the work of Christ in other people. We all learn and grown at different paces, in different times and in different ways. Pray! And remember that God is always in control.

So what is holding you back from being kept? What is holding you back from keeping other people? What sin do you need to confess? Are you willing to risk being transparent even if others are not? Are you willing to let go of your agenda so that Christ can work fully in you and use you to work in the lives of your sisters in Christ?