|
|
|
|
Welcome to KAXL On-Line |
 |
Sanctus Real Contest Winning Essay Entry: What does "We Need Each
Other" Mean To Me? To find out the answer to this question, I began by asking everyday people what does "we need each other mean?" The answers were similar. "Can’t live without or go on" or "Life would not be full". It’s a symbiotic relationship or as defined in the Webster’s Dictionary as "a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups)". Their underlying message is similar to the lyrics of Sanctus Real’s song We Need Each Other "life revolves around the need of having someone…through all the highs and lows". I believe it means the joy (J-Jesus O-others Y-yourself) of serving God by being his messenger. It’s built on a relationship with him that filtrates down to others in a "pay it forward" means. Matthew 20:28 states "For even I, the son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many." All of creation took place because God wanted relationship. By listening to your internal Holy Spirit God will tell you how to fulfill each unique individual’s needs. It is also a "want" to be that close to God to be unafraid of what he will ask you to do and have faith in doing it. I love to be that servant of God. By listening to his joy I can spread that same joy to many others. For so many years, I ignored his teachings and his words. Living in a world of shame, guilt, pride and unconscious of what was going on around me. As in the Sanctus Real song We Need Each Other "a life without friends…bitter, empty, hollow, dark and lonely". It was so much easier to just go with the flow rather than stand up for someone else. God didn’t give up on me and my need for a loving and loyal father. No! As with all who cry out to him in our greatest need with our arms open wide begging for mercy, ashamed of our stupidity. He will never let us down and always offers us the joy of having a relationship with him. He will never forsake us. We don’t have to live a life full of empty feelings. I have learned to listen and use his instructions to help others. That’s why I am writing this essay to help a family in need. My friend who has done so much for her church and community needs this experience for her and her teenage son. They can’t afford the tickets and God placed it on my heart. Her son is just like I was some years ago teetering on the fence of right and wrong only being saved by angels of mercy. Now it is my turn to return the favor for God. He needs to know the love of God can get him through anything better than drugs or alcohol. His mother has gone above and beyond to show him and others in our community how to stop living and let God lead the way. She works every week in preparing the media presentation for our church in addition to being a pastor. She has been a foster parent and worked for our local Boys and Girls Club. Currently, she is working with a group to prevent teenage drinking and helping to get grants for our Family Resource Center. What better way to pay it forward than to show them that they are both loved and appreciated for all her dedication. This is what "we need each other" means; giving up your security in order to give it to others who need it. My biggest life changing experience was my missions’ trip to Tijuana to rebuild a church that burned down from a neighbors’ meth lab explosion. Once I crossed that border and saw how the rest of the world survived life I was in awe. Where was the help for people living in houses made of scrap metal? Or the children barely clothed and fed? Or the stray animals wandering aimlessly in the streets? The need to help was in the church. At the service where "Hallelujahs!" filled the walls and welcomed one and all to experience the love of Christ. That’s where I became a servant of the Lord and wanting to live my life by their example. If little ole’ me can bring God’s joy to others, even just a minute bit, then imagine what God is already doing! But we have to "hear" him and put in into practice. Even if it only means picking up something for someone who dropped it, giving a book to someone for guidance, or adopting a rescue animal. Or maybe it’s on a bigger scale such as praying for world peace or children to stop being used for personal gain. Whatever it may be, it is a message from God to lean on each other. Depend on others. Just as we depend on him. Per Romans 12:8 "if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." We all need to fulfill each other’s lack of subsistence needs. It is those words that God teaches us in Ephesians 4:29 "Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." God made us in his likeness as building blocks for his foundation. The foundation that is built with "Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Ephesians 2:20 The foundation is built around having others to lean on, laugh with, support and encourage. This kind of need is fulfilled by having others you can trust to tell you the truth, love you for being who you are, and braving the good, bad and the ugly alongside of each other. He has also taught us that the Christian love is to love one another. Per Galatians 5:13 "For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love."
Sanctus Real Contest Runner-up Video Essay Entry: We Need Each Other
|