Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

I don’t like being left alone. For me loneliness is a hard pill to swallow. The day I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart my loneliness ended. Even now, in my quiet time, with my door shut and the noise of the outside world cut off, I am not alone. He is here with me.

Being adopted into sonship isn’t just about having God the Father as my Abba Father, it is a whole family. My elder brother is Jesus Christ. Every new born again Christian is my little brother or sister. Being family is so important to me because of my past experience of being alone. They too know how that feels. We stand on common ground now.

Getting to lend a hand as a newborn takes those first unsteady steps by faith is rewarding. I understand how difficult it was to walk by faith at first. We all need family for encouragement and support.

There is real benefit in coming to know those who have been walking with Christ much longer then we have. It is very much a part of what John described as a grace experience.

John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Seeing this grace manifest itself in the elders is encouraging to the children as grace is imparted from the elder to the youth by the power of the Holy Spirit who abides in both.

Philippians 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

If it be of God, it is in you also.