Guest Post: Genuine Community

I get to work with Bobbi and Matt at Forest Home in marketing! Along with working full time, I get to go to Fuller Seminary where I’m currently pursuing a Masters of Divinity in order to work more directly in ministry with college students. I enjoy the adventures of hiking, cycling and Ultimate Frisbee!

One of my greatest passions is writing. I began my blog just a couple of months ago in order to share this passion with others. I write observations of life and what God is teaching me. I hope for those who read it to join in the conversation.

Happy reading!

Genuine Community

By Carly Jones

Here’s what a couple of my friends said on Facebook when I asked what Genuine Community means…

It means a group of people from all different places in life working together to see something bigger than themselves get accomplished… (JShay Starr)

Selfless, unconditional, sacrificial, real LOVE that does not grow weary or ever cease despite how times it gets ripped open, trampled on, beat down…. they keep bleeding LOVE! It’s not about me/us! (Jenny Jones)

This is something I think about often. I want to be part of a genuine community. I want to contribute to a genuine community. The catch is – how do you know when you’ve fully arrived at this? Or, can you ever fully arrive?

Genuine community consistently requires a lot of work on behalf of all involved. You have to be intentional and understanding of others. You have to step outside of yourself and invest where life gets messy and uncomfortable. You have to be willing to change and be an agent of change. You have to be determined. You have to put yourself out there.

Sometimes you will get hurt. Sometimes you will experience greater joy and love than you ever thought possible. Always you must stick with it.

Genuine community can be scary and exhausting. It’s a part of growing more into the likeness of Jesus. With community comes accountability, a two-sided relationship of encouragement and confrontation.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

Have you experienced Genuine Community? I’d love to hear your story.