Genesis 2:18, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Suzie Brock reflects on love and relationships

Suzie Brock

'Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone"...(Genesis 2:18)

We are better together. As much as many of us would like to believe that this world would be better if we were the only ones in it, that's just not true. Loneliness sucks. God never intended for us to be alone; in fact He said it just wasn't 'good', and when God says something is not good, it's not good.

Practically every wedding you will ever go to you will hear the scripture from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, "Two are better than one", and I think most of us assume it's a 'marriage' scripture, but actually it's not entirely.

Love needs a place to 'land'; somewhere or someone in which it may attach itself and bloom. Alone there is no place for it to be manifest. Love gives and everyone needs to 'get'. Everyone needs to receive love; everyone needs someone, not just to get, but also to give.

We are made in the image of our creator God, who is the great giver of life and every fiber of our being wants to be like Daddy. We want instinctively to love and be loved. We equate that immediately to the thought of a life partner, but that is so limiting, especially for those who don't have or may never have a spouse.

Love and togetherness is not limited to the union of marriage, and it isn't the only place in which to find it. God is in your friendships, your family, your encounters and briefest moments with a stranger.

What is love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 lays it out beautifully. Love is the action of kindness, giving it and receiving it, from whomever and whenever. It's not practicing envy, jealousy, or pride. It's not being made fun of, or slandering another. Love is shown in the moment you stop thinking all about yourself and start thinking of someone else more.

I'm blessed that there is no-one in my life that hangs a record of my wrongs over my life daily and there are more than a few people in my life that know me and my shortcomings well enough to do so, but they don't, and neither does God.

I am loved and not alone. Everyone should be so blessed. Everyone should be in a place of receiving love and have someone in their life they can give love too. Life perpetuates life, love perpetuates love, and so it goes, two are better than one.

I think that this is what churches are for: to spread the good news and to live the good news. To be homes and family to the lonely, places to share and receive love. The good news is we are loved and invited out of loneliness into a family in which love flows.

There is no book or speaker on earth today that can express or records these truths better than the Bible. It is the hands down best account of how to do love and not be lonely. Listed below are just a few of the scriptures that speak of our need for each other and for fellowship, because, truly truly truly, two are better than one.

'Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.' Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT

'It's better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there's no one to help, tough! Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night. By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.' Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 MSG

'So let's do it---full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.' Hebrews 10:22-25 MSG

'Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.' Hebrews 10:22-25 NLT

'This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.' 1 John 4:10-12 NIV

'God sets the lonely in families'...Psalm 68:6a NIV