And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. — Hebrews 10:24-25
Our lives were designed to include others. From the time we are young, we begin building connections. Friends in childhood. Deeper friendships as we grow. And eventually, for many of us, the search for a life partner. Someone to share the whole journey with. I can barely remember what my life looked like before I was married because my wife has become such an essential and irreplaceable part of it. She is not an addition to my life. She is woven into its fabric.
That is not an accident. It is by design.
From the very beginning, God looked at His creation and said it is not good for man to be alone. Not just in marriage, but in life. We were built for connection. For community. For the kind of relationship where we are genuinely known by others and where others are genuinely known by us. Isolation was never part of the original plan.
The writer of Hebrews is direct about what this means for the life of faith. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. That word forsake is not casual. It carries the idea of abandonment: leaving behind something that was once valued. And the reason given is not attendance for its own sake. It is mutual provocation. Provoking one another toward love and good works.
That word provoke is intentionally strong. It is not gentle encouragement from a comfortable distance. It is the kind of spurring on that requires proximity. Knowing someone well enough to see where they need to be challenged. Being known well enough that someone else can see the same in you. That does not happen from the outside of community looking in.
We live in a moment when isolation has never been easier. Church services are available online. Devotionals can be consumed alone. An entire spiritual life can be constructed that never requires us to be genuinely known by another person. And while those resources have real value, they cannot replace what happens when believers gather around a common altar together.
There are things God deposits in us through other people that He simply does not deposit any other way. The encouragement of someone who has walked through exactly what you are walking through. The accountability of someone who knows your real story and loves you anyway. The faith that rises in a room full of people who are believing alongside you for things none of you can see yet. The altar of community is where those things happen.
Forsaking it always costs more than we expect.
I cannot imagine my life without my wife in it. Not because I could not survive alone but because what we have built together is so much richer, deeper, and stronger than anything I could have built on my own. The community of marriage has produced things in me that solitude never could have.
The community of faith works the same way. You were not built to carry your faith alone. You were not designed to face the hard seasons without people beside you. You were not meant to grow in isolation from others who are growing too. The altar of community is the place where we acknowledge that and stop pretending otherwise.
There is no better time to make sure you are not walking toward it alone. You were not built for isolation. The altar of community is where faith becomes something you share rather than something you survive alone.
Sometimes the most meaningful encouragement comes from hearing how God is meeting people in ordinary moments.
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About Another Well Ministries
Another Well Ministries exists to help people slow down, listen deeply, and encounter God in the ordinary places of life. Through devotionals, reflections, and spiritual resources, we seek to create space for faith to be formed with honesty, grace, and hope.
To learn more about the heart of the ministry or explore additional resources, visit anotherwell.org.
