The Wisdom Of Stability by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove


God offers us stability in the only thing that cannot fail—God’s faithfulness itself.

Life in the house of God is life with other people who are every bit as broken and messed up as we are. We learn to dwell with God by learning the practices of hospitality, listening, forgiveness, and reconciliation—the daily tasks of life with other people. Stability in Christ is always stability in community.

We can only grow into the fullness of what we are made to be in Christ by opening ourselves to the particular brothers and sisters who mediate Christ’s presence to us.

"In whatever place you find yourself, do not easily leave it."

If a trial comes upon you in the place where you live, do not leave that place when the trial comes. Wherever you go, you will find that what you are running from is ahead of you."

Maybe the single most important thing we can do if we want to grow spiritually is to stay in the place where we are.

...personal presence within the community does not exactly correspond with bodily presence.

Indeed, we might even go so far as to say that true Christian mission is not possible until we have established roots of love through the practice of stability.