If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 12:26-27 (ESV)

Jesus is the personification of grace and truth.

When we understand that we belong to Him and to one another through Him, we learn to become a community of daughters and sons marked by radical grace and relentless truth. Grace is the source that we rest on God’s gift of righteousness and truth is the means by which we are empowered for righteous living and habits. These two go together. Without truth, grace becomes an excuse to sin rather than God's protection against sin. Without grace, truth becomes a vindication to correct beyond what is normal, which is not God's approach of liberating people from wrong thoughts and beliefs.

Jesus' life and ministry were infused and fuelled by grace and truth, allowing Him to live an obedient life—completely obeying God's Word and fully obeying God's Spirit. Similarly, as we immerse ourselves in His grace and truth, we find ourselves walking in obedience to His ways of righteousness, peace, and joy.

Imagine what our church community would be like if grace and truth were the building blocks of who we are and what we do. People will feel safe and secure, allowing them to grow deep and authentic friendships that go beyond the mere exchange of pleasantries. 

Instead of concealing our wounds, we become courageous in sharing our stories for healing, hope, and transformation to occur. We deprive ourselves and others of the blessing of community and connection when we choose to isolate ourselves out of fear or shame. we are saying through our suffering silence: “I don’t belong here, and you don’t belong with me”. Then everything we do in church is merely for the sake of doing it, with no breakthrough or freedom.

True community and belonging flow from our willingness to be open, imperfect, and vulnerable. Our acceptance of others cannot be higher than our acceptance of ourselves. How genuine we wish to be with others is determined by how truthful we are with ourselves and how much grace we receive to bless and influence us for greater works.