You have heard that you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your relatives. Does this imply that your friends form a more agreeable and uniform group than your relatives? You can pick your church, but you can’t pick the people in your church. Yet the principle of selection still applies because the other people in your church picked the same one you did. Would you expect to find more beneficial diversity among your friends, family, or church? Are you aware of the ways groupthink will limit your comprehension of the truth?

Do you know any insecure people? What characteristics do you see in them? Are they grasping and ungracious, clinging to titles and accomplishments, and trying to prove their superiority at the expense of others? Do you also know secure people who are characterized by peace and generosity and humility? Don’t you prefer the company of those whose lived reality is an expression of their known inner worth? If being secure is desirable, what is the source of security? Would you benefit by having more yourself? How do you go about increasing your sense of security?

Do you want more stuff? But the things you own can be a burden. Have you ever found that their promise of a better life is not fulfilled? The alternative is to be content with what you have. There is Biblical support for this idea. Do you have enough? Have you ever faced a new task and realized that you could accomplish it with what you already have? This is called resourcefulness and it is the alternative to acquisition. It is better because you have less to store and maintain. Paul said that he was as one who owned nothing but he possessed all things.

Have you heard the saying, ‘united we stand and divided we fall’? Are you aware that you live in a culture in which intense individualism is accepted as normal? Can you see the advantages of individualism? Can you see the drawbacks? If you pursue individualism without also pursuing community you will end up alone, alienated and isolated. You get to choose your community, and some are not for you, but this is not an excuse for rejecting all associations. So what are you passionate about? What cause inspires you? With whom will you stand united, and for what cause?