“A man who has friends must be a friend, but
there is a friend who stays nearer than a brother.” – Proverbs 18:24 (NLV)
It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time
to stop and put my thoughts down but life has a way of pulling us in a thousand
different directions and usually when we least expect it most. I last wrote
here in June of 2014 and at the time God put it on me to talk about love and
now I feel I’m being pressed to dig in and write about relationships, the two
very easily go hand-in-hand. Relationships, we all have them regardless if we want them or
not. We live in this world and are socially required to interact with people.
But to those of us who call ourselves “Christ-Like” (Christians) I want to pose
a very important question. Are we really creating and cultivating relationships
with our friends, family and even our co-workers that resemble a “Christ-like”
love? My own answer to this is a very humbling sometimes.
I know that in the past few months, of which
seemed to be whirlwind of chaos at times, I neglected to cultivate some of my
own relationships. I also recognize the importance of taking the time (and
sacrifice) of cultivating healthy relationships aka making the time. There has
to be equal give and take, which I guarantee will be uncomfortable at times.
But again, if we desire our relationships to grow we can’t expect to just sit
back and not have to do anything. Here’s my “ah ha moment”, are you ready
because it’s very deep…It’s not all about me! Earth shattering wisdom I
know, but if we all “know” this then why do we hear about and see so many hurting
and angry people?
And what is so alarming is that these
“hurting and angry people” seem to be more prevalent inside the Church. One would think that this wouldn’t even be an
issue with the “churched folk” but the more and more I see the more I begin to
realize that somewhere along the line we may have missed it. What happened? I
mean one of the foundational teachings of Jesus is to love one another, right?
(See John 13:34) So where did we get so far off track? Well through my own experience
I can see that busyness and life in general plays a big role and can be
extremely detrimental to cultivating authentic and healthy relationships.
So in the end you have to just answer one
simple question. Which is; do I even want healthy, authentic relationships?
Because if you don’t then you really don’t have to do anything, just sit back
isolate yourself and let the good times pass you by. However, if you do desire
quality relationships that will last a lifetime then you have to put in the
time. Now I know there are many factors that may hinder us moving forward in stepping out and being vulnerable but It all just comes down to what your willing to sow (put in)? (see Galatians 6:7)
I came across this great resource that really
drives home, scripturally, what true authentic relationships should look like.
If you’re interested in checking it out CLICK HERE.
Take Care & God Bless,
-E
