What barriers do you have? What keeps you from community—from getting to know others and letting others really get to know you?

My pastor asked a similar question last week, and it made me stop and think, “Hmmm.”

You see, people often tell me that I’m easy to talk to and that they feel welcome in my home. Those are very kind words, and for a while I started using them as an excuse to move right along, thinking, I’m doing great in this area.

But that quiet, persistent voice of the Holy Spirit would not let me move on so easily.

So I stopped and genuinely asked Him to show me my barrier.

And He did.

The Walls We Tear Down… and the Ones We Don’t Notice

There was a time in my life when I had a wall around me that was a foot thick and twenty feet high. I built it to keep people out because of my past.

By God’s grace, He has done a mighty work in me, and that wall has been torn down. But just because one wall falls doesn’t mean there aren’t others still standing—just in different forms.

So what is my barrier now?

There may be more than one, but I’ll focus on the one the Holy Spirit revealed to me this time.

When Structure Becomes a Distraction

I have a tendency to get so lost in processes and details that I can forget the people affected by them.

My nature is to be extremely detail-oriented—almost to the point of obsession. (Some would question the 'almost' part.) Details are something I can control to some degree. They are logical and systematic. My mind naturally gravitates toward order and structure.

People, however, require flexibility, compassion, patience, and time.

It isn’t that I don’t love people or desire close relationships. I do! But sometimes I become so absorbed in the beautiful world of logic, order, and structure that I lose sight of the people God placed right in front of me.

And that realization convicted me deeply.

God Created Us for Community

Mentorship is one of the ways God uses to intentionally redirect my focus back to people and community.

It reminds me that relationships, while sometimes messy, time-consuming, and challenging, are also beautiful. God created us for community. He gave us spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ—not ourselves.

Jesus died for people, not for systems, schedules, or perfectly organized processes.

Father, thank You for the part of me You created that loves detail, order, and deep critical thinking. But Father, I repent of the times I have allowed those things to take precedence over people. Thank You for the people You place in my life, and I ask that the Holy Spirit continue to prick my heart whenever my priorities become skewed. Help me to love people the way You do. In Jesus' name, amen.

Until next month,