How to Have Togetherness: Biblical Hygge
Hygge (pronounced as “hoo-guh”): Is invoking or fostering a sense of coziness, contentment, and well-being
Togetherness in Hygge is about fostering a sense of connection, building meaningful relationships, and creating shared experiences that bring joy and comfort. There are five main parts of Hygge: comfort, togetherness, simplicity, warmth, and presence. We will be covering one of the five parts of Hygge per week for the month of February to learn how these concepts should be found in the lifestyle that a Christian leads. Last week we covered the idea of Comfort, and learned ways to grow in our own Spiritual Comfort. This week we will be learning about - Togetherness. Togetherness is one of the main elements for Hygge and also for the Christian Lifestyle. If this lifestyle is one that you want to cultivate for yourself, then continue reading.
#1. Togetherness in Creation:
Bible Verse: Genesis 2:18 - “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
When God first made Adam, He knew that He wasn’t intending for Adam to be alone. Adam needed Eve and Eve needed Adam. They both were not ever meant to be alone in life. They complimented each other, and through that they thrived. Yes, they made some bad choices along the way, but they still needed each other.
In the Hygge lifestyle, it is one lead with being together. Isn’t that how God intended us to be - together?! God knew that man needed others to grow and thrive. Isn’t it the same for our own faith? Faith in God was meant to happen in the community of fellow believers. Being an active member of a church, and helping each other grow in faith and love. God established that community when He sent Jesus on the earth to form the NEW Church. Just like in Hygge we also need a community to thrive in our Spiritual growth. We must remember that God didn’t create us to be alone, so we need to embrace those around us to grow in that togetherness that was founded in creation.
Ideas for Togetherness in Creation:
Set a goal for yourself after service every Sunday to talk to 10 people (preferably ones that you don’t talk to as often).
Find someone older in faith and younger in faith (not just by age, but by Spiritual maturity) to join you in your walk with God. Do this as a mentorship for growth. It’s a sharing of faith for all in the mentor group. Don’t just pick your close friends. Find someone who you look up to and also someone who has potential.
Start a Monthly Bible study where you meet at the coffee shop or restaurant each month. The idea of this is to grow with the ladies you have invited, but to also bring others in that might ask about something they heard.
Set a weekly goal to do something kind for someone else. You can rotate between church members, and non church members.
Pray for growth in unity and for growth in the church.
Host a “get to know you” night with your fellow church ladies, and have ice breaker games that allow you to learn about each other.
Start a “Sister Letter Group” at your church, where you get to send letter back and forth for a whole quarter with one of your fellow church ladies.
Set a goal to encourage 5 (or more) church members each week with something that they have done for the church recently (example: say thank you to the lady who washes the dishes after an event).
#2. Togetherness Amplifies our Faith:
Bible Verse: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 - “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”
What happens when someone is struggling through something, and doesn’t have a support system? They don’t conquer through it. We as humans know that we need others to get through the hard moments in life. Faith is always easy when we are on the mountain top, but is our faith as easy in the valleys? We can’t expect to grow in our relationship with others if we are only attending worship, and then leaving as soon as the service concludes. We must get out of our own struggles, and embrace our fellow believers in Christ. We must MAKE connections and friendships in the church, to have a family to lean on. Often times those relationship and connections won’t come to you, YOU must GO to them. We can’t expect others to always be the ones to include us first. We need to go out and include others, grow in our relationships, and lift each other up. Like in the verse above it shows that when we are together, united in a common belief in God, our faith will amplify each others.
Ideas for Togetherness Amplifies our Faith:
Get a group of ladies together once a month to do a volunteer project together. It can be a small project or a big one.
Set aside one prayer a day to pray for those in your church, and to pray for your relationships to grow with them. You can also pray for God to send people into your life that you can help each others faith grow.
Write small notes of encouragement for different church members.
Challenge yourself to smile at or hug so many people after every service. A smile or a hug can go a long ways to building relationships. Set the goal, and actual work towards your relationship growth.
Give genuine compliments freely to others. If you think of something good about someone else, then tell them. So often discouragement is a killer for Spiritual growth.
#3. Togetherness Reflects God’s Love:
Bible Verse: John 13:34-35 - “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In the verse above God tells us that He loves us endlessly. He always loves us. And He says in this verse that we are to go out into the world and show the same love to others. We need to love without end. We need to let down judgments, or social issues, and just simply LOVE. God loves us even through our sins. No, He does not approve of the bad choices we make in our lives, but He loved us enough to help us have a way back to Him. That way is through Jesus.
Do we love regardless of the sins and bad choices that others have made? Now, we can’t agree with the bad choices that others are making that contrast what God wants us to do, but we CAN love them anyways. What would the world look like if there was THIS kind of Godly love everywhere? The world would probably be more focused of God and others because of it. This kind of love from God is one that is far greater than the love of the world, and THIS kind of love would make others ask why. If they ask why we love deeper, then we can use that to show them God’s true love.
In Hygge, we are to be a welcome place, a comfort zone, and a loving embrace to others that come into our lives. Isn’t that what God is teaching us here? He is saying be SO opposite of the world, that you will be this bright beacon to all those around you. We MUST learn to love and embrace those in our lives like this? When was the last time we did this with someone other than our family? Don’t you think that we should do this with our church family even MORE than anyone else because they are our God given family? Our fellow believers are the ones that are trying to live like God wants them to, so we should show them even MORE love because of that. So will we love one another like God loves us?
Ideas for Togetherness Reflects God’s Love:
Smiling at People and keeping eye contact. This shows them that they have our attention and that we care about them.
Don’t use your phone when talking to others, let them see that you are putting value in your time with them.
Make sure you are actively listening to their words. Try not to always talk about yourself, but try to ask them more questions about THEM. Being someone who shows love to others, won’t always point back to themselves.
Do a random act of kindness for them. Send a card of encouragement, buy them a small gift from something you learned about them, invite them over for dinner, or just trying to include them more in your lives.
Try to give genuine complements as much as possible, that will help make people feel seen and appreciated.
Be mindful of your words and actions. Try to make your body language and words be one that are welcoming rather than closed off.
#4. Togetherness Blooms Through Hospitality:
Bible Verse: Romans 12:13 - “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
When I think of Hospitality, I think of Jesus. Jesus is the King of kings who ate meals with sinners. He was the one to welcome those who were deemed “unclean.” He embraced with love those who were the outcasts in the world. He welcomed them without judgement or complaining. He shared a meal when someone was hungry. He gave emotional support to those who were broken. He is the truest and greatest example of hospitality. He showed us that through hospitality, relationships bloom. In the verse above we see how we are called to show hospitality. Just like we learned in the third point above, we must show love like God loves us. Then the next step is that we must also show hospitality like Jesus did. Both go hand in hand. You can’t show true hospitality without having love first. And hospitality is the most often used way to show our love.
In Hygge, we are to show hospitality and love by welcoming people. That welcoming of people in our togetherness is what blooms through hospitality. We can’t grow in togetherness without hospitality. So we must seek to live a hospitable lifestyle before we can truly see togetherness bloom around us. Togetherness is one of the mostly beautiful things to see bloom in your life. Will you seek that in your own life?
Ideas for Togetherness Blooms Through Hospitality:
Invite some from church that is not a regular attending church member over for dinner, help them through togetherness grow in their relationship with God and others.
Start a small group that sets weekly goals to improve their relationships with God and others (click here to see how my family does this weekly group).
Start intentionally getting your house ready for company - set goals and dates to get it done by. You won’t invite people over if you keep making excuses.
Invite someone over, even if you worry about what they will think of your house. A welcoming house with little is WAY better than a fancy house with a cold feeling.
If you can’t afford to have a meal, then have them offer for coffee/tea. It doesn’t have to be expensive. You can even have a potluck styled meal where everyone brings something (example: past bar, baked potato bar, or everything sub night.)
Conclusion:
Bible Verse: Galatians 3:28-29 - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
For those in Christ, who are now added into Christ’s Family, it doesn't matter who you are or where you have been in your life. Christ loves ALL people the same. So we should show love to all peope ALSO. We shouldn’t have just a few people in the church that we have togetherness with. We need to have togetherness with ALL of our fellow believers. Are we excluding certain people? If we are, then we need to ask ourselves why. God loved us through our mistakes, so we must love others through theirs. We need to be trying to grow in love and togetherness just as much with the ones on the back row that leave quickly, as we do with the ones we sit next to. Just like how Jesus showed hospitality and togetherness with everyone he came in contact with, we need to also. Togetherness comes from creation, where God intended us to not be alone. Togetherness come from lifting each other up and amplifying each others faith. Togetherness comes from showing the love that God has for us to others. Togetherness comes from hospitality and putting others first. Are we having Biblical Hygge in OUR togetherness?
Ideas for “Biblical Hygge” Togetherness:
Branch out with who you talk to at church. Try to build relationships with those who you don’t normally talk to. Remember togetherness is not found in only a few people. God wants us to have togetherness with every member in Christ’s family, even those we don’t always see eye to eye with.
Don’t wait until you “feel” like you are ready to invite people over or talk to other people. Excuses will destroy relationships! Don’t wait, do it anyways!
Show up, be at church, go to all the events. Don’t just go to them - be PRESENT at them. Challenge yourself to talk to different people. Make the connections!
If you don’t have a good memory, keep a notebook of facts you learn about people. This will help you grow in a relationship with them as you are learning more about them.
Be gracious with yourself, becoming a person who has true Biblical Hygge togetherness won’t happen over night. But to become that we must be making actual plans for growth. Prioritize this growth, by making plans and challenges for yourself. Don’t wait around and hope to have this lifestyle latter. Live this life NOW!
Remember we only make time for the things we prioritize. So, Prioritize your togetherness with ALL of your fellow workers in Christ. MAKE the time, life is short, and eternity is long!
About the Author: My name is Katie, and I’m a Church of Christ Preacher’s wife in Kentucky. I am also a proud homeschool mom to two brilliant boys. I love to craft, and make and bind my own notebooks. I also make a weekly podcast show called “Just Bible No Fluff",” where I skip all of fluffy extras and hop right into a short yet impactful exegetical study of the scripture. My mission and vision in life is this: “To empower women Spiritually by enhancing their skills in deep Bible study, equipping them to effectively teach the Gospel to others, and guiding them in cultivating Spiritual growth beyond the Church building.”