Brothers in the Fight

And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 1 Chronicles 19:12-13

For years, I’ve met weekly with some Christian brothers in a men’s accountability group. The purpose of such a meeting is to help each other in the struggles of life. We all have our own struggles but men and women struggle differently, and there are some struggles that only other men understand. We were made to live in community and men need other men in their lives to encourage, challenge, and sometimes to critique one another. We’re stronger together and our burdens are lighter when we share them with each other.

Brothers need each other. This principle is illustrated in today’s passage, in which Joab, commander of the Israelite army, found himself surrounded on the battlefield, with Syrians on one side and Ammonites on the other. Joab set his brother against the Ammonites, as he took on the Syrians. Each brother fought his own battle but promised to turn and help the other when he needed it. They couldn’t do it alone and each needed the other.

Life is a battle in which we need each other. We must be careful though, with whom we surround ourselves. Men can, unfortunately, encourage the worst in each other. If we desire the lives for which God created us, we must surround ourselves with other men who also want to go in that same direction. Then, we must regularly meet with the purpose of helping each other in the fight. Weekly, at our meeting, we talk about the previous week, recounting our successes, our failures, and our struggles. Sometimes it simply helps to have others listen to what we’re going through. Sometimes we need support and advice. And sometimes we need others to call out our nonsense. God doesn’t intend for us to fight our battles alone. To become the kind of men he created us to be, we need each other.