By Karina Allen

This past month, I had two dear friends, Angie and Kristy, who had the privilege of speaking at a couple of churches. Angie’s event was an hour away from Baton Rouge, and Kristy’s was about thirty minutes away. Neither was a far distance from me, so when I found out about them speaking, I knew I wanted to be there.

Angie and Kristy have both walked through a great deal of loss, but the Lord has brought forth sweet ministries that bring hope and healing to others out of their grief. After their events ended, they were so grateful I had come to support them. But I could also sense a bit of disbelief that I had even wanted to come and listen to them teach.

I began to ponder why we can sometimes feel unworthy of someone championing us. Why are we amazed that someone would show up for us?

I don’t know that I have any answers, but what I do know is that it has never occurred to me to not show up. I actually count it one of my greatest joys to show up for my friends and to cheer wildly for them.

Angie even asked me if I felt a calling to cheerlead and intercede for people. Though I’ve never thought about it in those terms before, I do feel that calling very deeply. But I also think that every believer is called to encourage and intercede for others on some level.

Society has us believing that we must be individualistic and isolated, but our role in each other’s lives as seen in Scripture is for us to be brothers and sisters in Christ. We are family in the most important ways, and families are intimately involved with one another.

In my Bible, the heading title before Romans 12:9-21 says “Behave Like a Christian.” Those verses talk about love in action, and that’s exactly what it means to be a believer in Christ. We get to speak hope into each other’s sorrows and grief. We sit. We listen. We cry together. We speak words of encouragement. We also get to delight in the ways that God blesses others. We praise. We give thanks. We celebrate. We cheer.

Further, in Galatians 6:2, it says that we are called to “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way [we] will fulfill the law of Christ.” This is a high calling and not for the faint of heart. This calling comes at a cost as we bear each other’s heavy loads with hope and joy. It is not always convenient or easy or desired, but we do it out of obedience to God’s Word and out of love for Him and others.

With the state of the world such as it is, I’ve never been more convinced of just how much we need the body of Christ. 

We need encouragement and love and wisdom from one another. We need fellowship and intimacy with each other. And we need to build each other up in prayer and faith.

Thankfully, we are not alone in this life. We were created for community. So when we feel weak, the body of Christ is there to hold us up and strengthen us. We get to give and serve, pray and sacrifice for one another, and show up and cheer each other on.

In this, we fulfill God’s beautiful plan for His children when we come together. Bearing witness to the work of God in and through others will always bring me great joy, and my prayer is that we would all embrace this calling and experience how God moves powerfully in each other’s lives.