It is Not Good That the Man Should Be Alone

by Beth Haden

On the sixth day of time, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good."  He placed man into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it and gave him the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Then God saw the one thing that wasn't good, He said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him." Man was not created to live in isolation.  God created man with the need for companionship, not just company.

In this age of technology, many people freely reach out to others through texts, emails, and phone calls, but those things don't fulfill the need for human companionship. They truly make people feel lonely. Many scriptures bear out the fact that people need each other.

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to lift him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10.  We need others to encourage, strengthen, and help us. Probably all of us have experienced this situation, and many have been alone and greatly need the help and/or support of another.

Proverbs 18:1 shows us the danger of isolation when one pursues his own desires by separating from others: "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom."

God tells us through Proverbs 27:17 that when we work together we strengthen one another and help each other grow: "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

Another asset to working together is given by the apostle Paul in Galatians  6:2 "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Companionship and fellowship help us lift the burdens of each other where isolating oneself in times of trouble magnifies the troubles.

In I John 1 verse 3 we read, "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." In verses 6 and 7 we learn how to stay in fellowship with our Father and Jesus Christ: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,  we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from ALL sin." We stay in fellowship with God by confessing our sins the instant we realize them. He has promised to forgive and restore fellowship!

The scripture showing our need for fellowship that stands out most to me is in Hebrews 10:23-25: "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;...And let us consider one another to provoke unto good works; Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." The  verses in Hebrews 10 following these verses expound on our sinning deliberately after salvation. The wording of these verses tells us that to help us stay true to our faith, we NEED to assemble together for fellowship. We are to encourage one another.

This assembling and encouraging is with other children of God and more especially the local church or churches. I dearly love my present church family. Over the years as a minister's daughter and later a minister's wife, I have been blessed with many precious church families. I have many good memories of being encouraged and taught through our fellowship.

God's word commands us to love each other as He loves us! That tells me it's a never-ending work toward God's kind of love, one that will never be totally reached. Read Romans 8:31-39 to be reminded of God's kind of love.

How do you love your fellow Christian? What does your local church family mean to you? Are you loyal to your church family? Do you uplift, encourage, and edify in every way you can, or do you separate yourself from those who are "not like you?"

There are many other scriptures that could be listed on this blog, but we only need ONE to know what God means. He wants us to stay connected to each other through fellowship, "and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." That part of verse 25 is sadly being ignored by many.

Man was not created to live in seclusion!!