It is important for people to understand how much value there is in sharing. I'm speaking primarily about Christians, but I suppose this could apply to anyone. When you learn something new, it's comforting and helpful to hear from someone experienced that they went through something similar. Any number of things in life seem to be easier if done with support of others.
I started this thinking that I was going to stress the importance of sharing what you feel God is doing in your life, simply because I think that's one of the biggest parts of how I've been able to grow in faith. The more I shared about what I thought about God, some part of the bible I was reading, or what I felt God say to me at that time, the more I was able to keep myself in check. More importantly though, the more I did all that, the more I ran into people who were dealing with, or thinking about the same thing.
As I continued to think about this, I've decided that it really is just sharing in general that I want to push the importance of. I think it's the times in my life where I don't feel like God is there at all that sharing is most important. Reaching out to someone for comfort, and just hearing about how they're doing and maybe how they've dealt with those types of feelings in the past.
So why doesn't this happen more? Why do we get scared to share things sometimes? There can be any number of things impacting this, but something that has stood out to me is the fear that it simply annoys other Christians. The problem is that this isn't even an irrational fear, it does annoy other people, and I don't think it should.
I can say that because I've been annoyed by other Christians sharing where they're at with me, and I regret it. The reason I was annoyed is because it made me feel pressured. Pressured to reciprocate the awareness of my relationship with God, and how it was working at a given time. I've learned that there is actually plenty, if not most of, the time where it doesn't really feel like anything crazy big has changed or is going on, but when there is something happening that you feel like you want to share with someone else to hear what they think, or even because you think it might help them to hear it, we should definitely be doing that.
What kind of a community are we if we can't share with each other? What kind of a friend are you if you can't listen to where I'm at? Where is the love in that? As much as I can sympathize with being annoyed when someone is maybe just bragging or looking to be reassured that they're doing good - I don't think there should ever be a place in our mind that thinks it's okay to view someone opening up as an inconvenience to us.
Sharing isn't just about consoling someone who needs to vent either. I can't tell you how many times I've had people who were just telling me about something they were thinking about, saw happen, or read in the bible in casual conversation, totally impact me in something I was dealing with. Sometimes we just make a connection - I happened to have been thinking about something similar, etc. But sometimes there's something pretty supernatural about it.
God gives us experiences in our own life to be shared. You never know when talking about something that's been on your mind or heart when you have the opportunity can open up a door, or even bring healing, comfort or encouragement to someone else. If we are supposed to be brothers and sisters, we should act that way.
So start sharing, and start listening to people. Ask them about their lives, their opinion on bible and faith stuff. Start to connect and make your relationship with Jesus something you strive to grow in with the others' around you. Even if you're an introvert, or you don't like to open up or whatever it may be, it can't hurt to reach out some more - I think you'll be surprised what comes of it.
It'd be nice to end this on a "let's all be friends and love each other you guys!" note, but I want to look at this from another perspective first. What does it mean to keep your relationship with Jesus totally private? What is it that wants to keep Jesus as something controlled and secondary? What is it that wouldn't want you to be sharing about your relationship with Jesus?
Well. Who wouldn't want your relationship with Jesus to start to become a larger part of your life? Who wouldn't want you to think about God, the bible and faith more? I think it's pretty clear that the person who want this more than anything is the devil.
Sharing does more than just create opportunity for community and making friends and love, like I said at the beginning regarding my journey, it keeps you in check. It causes you to start to think. Sharing causes you to start to think about some questions that maybe you don't want to because you're afraid that you don't know the answer, you're afraid of uncertainty. Sharing with others will often challenge you in your faith when you hear someone who maybe disagrees or offers a fresh perspective on a thought.
Sharing with others promotes growth in your own faith journey. So don't think of sharing as some kind of duty you need to do so that other people who can't figure it out on their own, humble yourself and recognise that getting this thing to the forefront of your conversations and your relationships with other Christians will actually help people climb out of a place that feels hopeless - it will literally combat evil.
To share is to seek. When you open yourself up to having conversations about faith and God, you're opening yourself up to challenges that will help you learn and grow in faith. Seek with other Christians. We're all just as scared and uncertain, and we can help each other.
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