“Isolated pleasure denies others the opportunity to experience joy.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – June 6, 2026
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NLT
I recently listened to a wonderful lecture by Arthur C. Brooks, the author best known for his research into the science of happiness. Addressing a group of college students, he challenged them to an honest assessment of their desires and addictions, especially those that drive us toward isolation and loneliness. Though the entire address is worthy of a close listen, this single line stood out and has stayed close ever since: “If there’s something that gives you pleasure… if you’re using it alone, you’re using it wrong. That’s the rule.”
Of course, as he notes, there are always exceptions to the rule. For example, it isn’t wrong to pray to the Lord in private. Yet even that practice is not truly in isolation, for the Lord is with us and we are communing with him!
And while this address was focused on young adults, we would be naïve to think isolated pleasures are simply a “youthful” problem. If you are reading these words on a digital device, there is a high chance, whether you are 9 or 90, that you face a daily temptation to allow that phone or tablet to isolate you from those around you, sometimes even those in the same room!
Isolation is one of the deepest ailments known to mankind, because it most severely distorts the image of God that each of us bears. God is a community of love, and we are made to reflect this in every aspect of our lives. Simply put, we need each other. We need others to lift us up when we fall down, as Ecclesiastes reminds us today, yet we need others for our joy to be full. Isolated pleasure denies others the opportunity to experience joy, and it will therefore always be incomplete.
Instead, whatever gives you joy today, go out of your way to make it a shared joy and communal celebration, living a truly Christian life that embodies the eternal love that is known and shared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Father, help us in our fragmented and isolated age to live daily in loving community in a way that reflects the love you know and share with the Son and Spirit. Amen.
Application
Consider ways to expand the circle and invite others into the joys and sorrows of your life.
Related Reading
Psalm 133:1; Acts 2:46-47; Romans 12:15
Worship Resource
Kristian Stanfill: We Need People
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