Thinking Biblically About Loneliness: A 5-Day Reading PlanSample

Day 2: God Is Not Lonely, and We Don’t Have to Be

Our God, who exists in three persons, is One and Only, but not alone: there is always interaction, unity, and love between the persons of the Trinity. Man was created in the likeness of God as a perfect and whole person (Gen 1:27). The fact that even before the creation of a woman from his rib, Adam had communion with God and was fulfilling his role in caring for creation, indicates that human identity is not limited to human relationships, but exists in God and has its fulfillment in a God-inspired calling.

Adam was unique but emotionally lonely. After all, our uniqueness makes sense only in the presence of someone else, it requires recognition and acceptance by others in communication and interaction. Although the man was created in the likeness of God as a whole and complete person, he was not fulfilled. We have an internal, innate need to form close bonds, and to belong to our own kind (Gen 2:18). That is why God created Eve.

God provides our natural earthly needs, including social ones, through the help of other people, friends, society, and churches. God is “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,...God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing.” (Ps 68:5–6).

The New Testament presents the fullness of believers’ identity from a social point of view. It is in Christ that Christians are a community of those who belong to him, and have not only everything necessary for their salvation, life, and sanctification, but also the fullness of their personality and understanding of their role and place in his church (Eph 1:23).

This means there is hope to overcome loneliness. When people find communication with God in friendship, fellowship, church, then God’s plan for us as social beings, who can form strong spiritual bonds and reflect God’s image on earth, is realized.