The New Testament repeatedly says that you should walk in wisdom, love, light, and obedience. It tells you to walk as Jesus walked—including walking alongside other people.

Here are three reasons you need to walk with other people:

It’s safer. Have you ever walked alone at night through a dark alley or down a lonely country road? It’s a little scary. But if you have another person with you, you feel safer.

It’s supportive. Life is not a 50-yard dash; it’s a marathon. Walking with other people gives you the energy to keep on going until the end. 

It’s smarter. You learn more by walking with others than by walking alone. If you’re walking alone in the wrong direction, you may never realize it. But if you have a friend beside you, one of you is likely to recognize you’ve veered off the path. Then you can find the right direction together.

There are other ways you get smarter by walking with other people. You learn some important lessons together.

You learn how to get along and cooperate with others.

You also learn how to love. Genesis 2:18 says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (NIV). Community is God’s answer to loneliness. When you walk alongside other people, you find a community where you learn how to love.

Walking alongside other people also teaches you hospitality. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:9, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (NIV).

What’s your grumble? What’s your excuse for not opening your home to friends? Maybe you’ve said, “My home is dirty!” Well, clean it up! Or perhaps your excuse is, “My home isn’t big enough.” Can you put three people in it? Jesus says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20 NIV).

Everybody has a longing for belonging because God made us for relationships. When you walk alongside other Christians in community, you find that longing satisfied.