Ecclesiastes 4:10 - If one falls down, his friend can help him up

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

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 help him up.

We are created to live in community and engage in caring relationships with one another.

The practical outcome of this truth is described in Ecclesiastes 4:10, which pictures someone who has "fallen and can't get up." Should any of us falter, or have unexpected needs, a friend can come along to lend a hand. But when a person lives in isolation, too "independent" to need or help anybody else, he or she quickly discovers no one is there when trouble comes.

We need one another. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves (see Matthew 19:19). Love for one another is not some passive feeling, but a practical response to a need expressed through "compassion in action."

What might that look like in your life today?

Submitted by the Compassion International team of writers and editors