Stronger Together: A Biblical Perspective

By Kevin C. Zell Aka Chaplin Pappy

Good day my friends. As I begin this series, I want to remind you that KOVH does not endorse any religious belief or church. Thus as I begin to write I want you to know that my writing will be from my faith perspective and I will use what I have learned to help encourage and lift you all up and show you a path that if you choose to take it will help you and your neighbors come together by putting aside your differences by coming together to use our common backgrounds to help each other in times of need. So, using my background from my time of working in Ministry I will show that whether we believe the same or not we all have a common goal of working together to help our fellow neighbors. So, let’s get started:

From Opening Chapters of the Bible, as in many faiths, the God I believe in revealed that we were never meant to live in isolation. The Open two chapters of Genesis during the creation account shows how when mankind was created, we were created with the intent to work together to get with one another. Now whether you hold to the Bible or you are agnostic or even maybe atheistic we can all agree that In order to get through each day we sometimes need to lean on one another to get to the next day.

The Bible from my perspective teaches That God, the creator or if you are of another religious belief teaches that we are a people that was created for and meant for fellowship, unity, and mutual support. We are stronger together because no matter what your belief system we were made for community.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 captures this imagery of us being meant for fellowship and community best: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” These verses teach it best when it comes to being stronger together. When one of us is hurting the rest of us should be coming along and lifting the other up. We should not be judging the person we are lifting up.  We shouldn’t be looking down on someone that is in trouble. We shouldn’t even be saying well they got themselves into this so they can get out of it themselves.  What we should be doing, what we need to be doing is sitting there lifting each other up and helping each other get through day after day.

The early church all the way up through today many no matter what their religious background they would devote themselves to working together for the greater good of the community. While it was never perfect, they tried to do what was right for there neighbors even if they had to be reminded from time to time to put aside their selfishness and to care for those who they crossed paths with.  Many Western Societies have been influenced by the true generosity of those that learned from the church. And this is not to say the church was perfect because the church has had its flaws also. But when the individual takes a stand with his neighbor and for clarification one’s neighbor isn’t just the person living next to us. Our neighbor is the person we come in contact with throughout the day.  Even if something is as simple as a kind word, a simple hello can go along way to making someone’s day better. Most days it’s just the need to sit and listen for two or three minutes to what is happening in someone’s life that makes a difference.

Being stronger together means standing side by side in times of trial. It shouldn’t matter if the person is just like us. It shouldn’t matter if the person is like us, sounds like us, comes from the same upbringing as us. What matters is when someone is asking for a hand up that we pause and lift them up. We are stronger when we stand united on a common good to help each other

In a world that often promotes self-sufficiency, personal independence and personal achievement, we can take a passage from the Bible where Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, the body of Christ has many parts, each essential, none greater than the other. A body cannot function without all its members working together. Likewise, we cannot reach our full potential as followers of Christ without the mutual support and partnership of others. Now while we are not a church and we can’t push a religious belief over another we can come away with one principle from this verse that should bring us all together. The principle is that we are all needed. We all have a purpose and an ability that can be used to help others around us. And that we need each other to make a difference in the world and in our communities.

To be “stronger together” is not simply a motivational phrase—it is a spiritual truth. KOVH needs you and you help in making a difference in the world around us to help Vets and their families keep their homes. No one individual can do it alone, we need each other, and we need the talents and abilities you have been blessed with to make the changes that we need to make for those we are trying to help. So, would you consider joining with us to help make a difference in the families we touch each day.