Don’t Hold Back with Your Small Group
By Rick Warren
“If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other . . . If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:7-8 (NCV)
Do you want your small group to go to a deeper level of connection and spiritual growth? If you want to take your small group to the next level, then you need to start sharing your hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
That means you share your stresses, your problems, your faults, your mistakes, your weaknesses, your pressures, your trials, and your troubles. The more openly and honestly you share with your small group, the deeper you’re going to go and grow.
When someone asks how you’re doing or how something is going, don’t reply, “I’m fine” or “It was okay.” It’s hard for anyone to help you if you’re not open with them about how you’re hurting.
A small group that genuinely wants to learn and grow together is a place where you can share about a bad day, about heartbreaking news, about confusion over a situation, or about feeling far away from God. If you speak up, that’s when other people in your small group can help and encourage you.
The Bible says in 1 John 1:7-8, “If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other . . . If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (NCV).
Your small group already knows everything is not perfect in your life, because you’re not perfect—none of us are! Don’t try to pretend everything’s perfect. That’s not what small group is for.
My small group has gone through all kinds of problems together, including bankruptcy, cancer, lawsuits, and even the death of our children. Every major crisis you could think of, we’ve gone through. We’ve been there for each other, and it binds us together.
James 5:16 says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (TLB).
Sharing your strengths in a small group is not going to be what helps someone else. You actually help each other more by sharing your weaknesses. That’s when you can look at each other and say, “If they can go through all that and God could use them, then I know God can use me too!”
Being honest about our difficulties and discouragement starts a process of healing together.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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