Relationships

Relationships are a huge theme in my everyday life lately and I find myself struggling to keep up with my own thoughts. I am thinking about human emotions and the human mind too much, and it's spinning me in circles. But this kind of purposeful reflection is healthy, in my opinion, and that's why I feel the need to write about it.

Jesus spells out friendship clearly in John 15

¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 

We are made to have relationships, to build relationships, to work to keep relationships and to learn from relationships. But, as this scripture says, it's not just about having and maintaining a friendship that is relevant to His kingdom, but also the effort, commitment, dedication, loyalty, and true love that goes into a friendship. Jesus died on the cross because of His friendship with me. I must not forget this.  As relationships and friendships in my life evolve, grow, or (quite unfortunately) fade, I must remember to love first and foremost, as my Father loves me.


I've also been reflecting on Galatians 6:9-10 that says, "So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith."

I will strive to grow and learn from the friendships and relationships in my life, and at the same time, I will know that every joy, struggle, pain, or celebration that comes from that is a part of His work. It's not my doing. Relationship making, building and breaking is far too complex for my feeble mind, and I must be okay with this. This, for certain, is a growing pain for me - I need to remember that I'm not in control and that I should rejoice that the Lord is my provider. Therefore, there's no reason to give up - no good reason to quit doing good deeds, and at the same time I can be at peace with knowing that my faith in God alone will comfort me when there's an emotional shift in my world socially.


Romans 5:7-8 drives my point home. "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

How blessed are we that we are not made to be alone.