Community refers to a circle of people who share your values, encourage your growth and strengthen your commitment to seeing and living with clarity in a visually distracting world
“We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.”
Hebrews 10:25 (GWT)
Why Community Matters
In a visually distracting world, it is tough to sustain your commitment to seeing and living with clarity without support from others. While you may start alone, it is easy to drift on the days you feel low. Being in a community of people with shared values and commitment can provide:
- Encouragement and support to stay focused and faithful on the days you get distracted, discouraged or tempted.
- Faster growth as you gain more knowledge and wisdom from others, while also sharing your own
- A sense of belonging because you are surrounded by people who understand and share your values, so you don’t have to explain why sightful living matters to you
- Greater impact because, beyond living for yourself, you inspire others to do the same.
How to Identify and Be Part of the Right Community
- Start by clarifying your values. What do you want in a community? First of all, they have to be people who share your faith in God and commitment to sightful living. Knowing what you stand for will help you find people who align with your values.
- Look in the right spaces. These can be groups or ministries in the church focused on purity, purpose, or intentional living, or wellness communities online or offline promoting eye health, digital intentionality, or healthy lifestyle habits or brands that run challenges or forums designed around clarity and vision wellness.
- Observe and confirm that they do what they say. Do the communities live out the values they claim? Is there encouragement, support, and accountability, or just talk?
- Start small and engage. Once you have found a good fit, take the initiative to engage with them. Attend meetings, introduce yourself and participate in relevant conversations and activities.
- Build mutual relationships. Remember, community is a two-way relationship. As long as the community is made up of people who share your values and commitment to sightful living, look for ways you can contribute. Do not just focus on what you will get. You can contribute encouragement, prayer, knowledge and your presence.