Power in Numbers

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work.

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Sooner or later we discover God's truth regarding our need for others.

We may not discover this until we fail—fail in a business, a marriage, a close friendship, or in a client relationship. We are incomplete without the ongoing input from others into our lives. An independent spirit is one of the most detestable sins from God's viewpoint. It is the highest form of pride.

"Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice" (Proverbs 13:10).

God has made each of us so that we have only so many gifts. He did not give any of us all the available gifts. Hence, we learn to depend on others and to humbly trust others to complete us where we are deficient.

David had Jonathan.

Paul had Silas.

John Wesley had George Whitefield.

Martin Luther had Philip Melanchthon

Martin Luther learned that he needed someone in his life to complete the work God called him to do. Luther had the greatest respect for this friend who helped him reform the Church of their day, and the Church as we know it at present. Luther learned a great deal from Melanchthon, who was a great scholar at a young age.

He could speak several languages, and he became Professor of Greek at the new University of Wittenberg at 21 years of age. This was ten months after Luther posted his famous theses on the church door in Wittenberg. Melanchthon helped shape the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century through his research, writings, moral purpose, and religious conscience. Luther and Melanchthon became inseparable, and when they died, they were buried next to each other.

Who has God placed in your life to complete you?

Perhaps it is a mate and if not yet , then soon.

Perhaps it is a mentor which you highly esteem.

Perhaps it is a close friend that you have known since grade school.

Perhaps it is a business partner you have just landed a deal with.

All four of these examples—a mate, a mentor, a close friend, a business partner—will be the most significant areas of your life that you will need a second party to help you to fulfill the calling God has on your life. If you lack this in your life, seek God for direction on who might just be that someone who can speak into your life in the physical—because ultimately God is already that someone.

If you have someone like this in all four of the areas mentioned above already, then let him or her know how much you appreciate the role he or she plays in your life.