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Nurturing The Most Important Relationships In Your Life |
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The most important relationships in your life are like a special treasure. If we are wise we will take special precautions to protect and care for these treasures. Many people take these special "treasures" for granted and not realizing what they had until they have lost everything. Nothing is right when our most important relationships are not right. When our relationships are out of order our life is out of order. Here are a few tips for nurturing the most important relationships in your life:
1. Let the Word of God identify which relationships should be most important. (1) Our relationship with God. God's Word tells us that He is supposed to be our absolute number one relationship. Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Ex. 20:3). We are to love Him far above anyone else. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (De. 6:5). We know there is no relationship with God without His Son Jesus Christ. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also (I Jn. 2:23). Some foolish person said "Life begins at forty" but actually "life begins at Christ." True life doesn't begin until we have revelation of Jesus Christ and truly receive Him as our personal Lord and savior. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Until Christ we're just walking around in a deceptive daze without a purpose or a life. (2) Child-parent relationships. When we are children our second most important relationship is our parents. And even after we leave home and our spouse moves into second place position, we are supposed to maintain a life long relationship of love and respect for our parents provided of course there wasn't abuse. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you (Ex. 20:12)." And Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth (Eph 6:1-3)." (3) Our relationship with our spouse. When we're married our relationship with our spouse is supposed to be the second most important relationship we have. Gen 18:24 says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." This passage speaks of a very special relationship. A relationship so close that it is called "Holy Matrimony" and we often include in the marriage ceremony the phrase, "Therefore what God has joined together let not man separate" How often married couples fail to put their spouse in the proper position they deserve. Marriage problems are often the result of the married couple themselves not honoring the Word of God to keep their relationship holy before the Lord. They let some "man" aka other person separate them. I have seen couples let the "man" that separates them be a little baby or their children. Sometimes after couples have children they often fail to regard the proper order of making the children a welcomed but subordinate addition to the home. The relationship with the children begins to separate them from each other. Parental instincts can be strong. Sometimes so strong they allow all their time to be taken up with the children until there is little time for nurturing the marriage relationship. Resentments can often develop when spouses don't have enough time together. In pastoring we have observed inordinate affection for children become a major marital issue. Don't let your children consume you. They are ego-centric and will dominate a parent's every waking moment if proper boundaries are not set. I'll write more on this subject later. Have a blessed week. Bishop Darrell Ellis Anointed Word International Fellowship |
