Word of the week - Relationship
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength; the second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:30-31
Relationships - The more I live the more I realize that the key to life is authentic and healthy relationship with God and others, especially those close to us. There is nothing more fulfilling and challenging than relationships. On one hand, the true joy of life is sharing in the journey with others and experiencing the ups and downs of life with those we love. On the other hand, the deepest pain and challenges I have experienced in life are associated with relational challenges, generally with those closest to me. This is such a dichotomy but also the way God set things up because people are what matter most on this earth and their souls last forever. If we allow Him, God will use our relationship with Himself and others to refine us and mold us into His image, this is the process of sanctification. “As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another” Proverbs 27:17
Relationship with God – I believe the most important relationship in life is our personal relationship with Jesus. Whereby we surrender our hearts to Jesus and connect with God by spending time with Him by getting to know Jesus. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known Him.” John 16: 6-7. We make a decision to allow Jesus to be Lord, then we pursue our relationship with Him. Our goal should be to get to know Him, who He is, what He loves and cares about, what He desires for us and from us etc., and be known by Him. To be open and transparent with the Lord to share our deepest desires, fears, needs and wants with Him so He knows us and our hearts desire. God desires to know us and be connected to us through our personal relationship with Jesus. Daily abiding (connecting) with Jesus is how we connect with Him and get to know Him through His word, prayer, worship, fellowship with other believers etc. Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in me I will abide in you and your will bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing” John 15:5
Relationship with Others – We were not made to do this life alone and need relationship and community to live healthy and productive lives. God set it up this way from the beginning and I am so grateful that He did. In last week’s word of the week, I shared about the marriage relationship, see below. God ordained as a special covenant relationship between one man and one woman. Next to our relationship with God the marriage relationship is the most important earthly relationship. That being said, if we want to flourish and live to our full God given potential, we need to have healthy relationships beyond our marriage and family. This can include relationships with people in our work/business, church/ministry or just friends we enjoy spending time with doing things we enjoy. The true richness and joy of life is experienced through personal relationships and doing life with others. We learn and grow from being around others especially those that we have deeper and more intimate relationships with. “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2 Relationship with others has a meaningful influence on who we are and our success in every aspect of life. My friend John Maxwell says “show me your friends and I will show you your future”. Who we desire to build relationship with really matters because they will influence who we become and visa/versa. To grow in relationship with others we must simply desire to be in relationship and spend time getting to know the person and allowing them to get to know us. The 3 most important things that make a relationship healthy and productive is Intimacy, Commitment and Communication. Of course, trust is key and as we build relationships over time, we build trust which leads to deeper and more fulfilling relationships over time. “Two are better than one, because they have good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his friend. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” Ecclesiastes 4:9
Relationship with Family – This is a pretty big topic that deserves to be a stand alone “word of the week”. I will plan to share on this one next week.
Lord, thank you for the gift of relationships. We are surely better together in relationship with God and others.
-Duane