Life is relationship. God designed it that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adam, the first man, is the only person who had the opportunity to live without human fellowship. The Lord God said, \u201cIt is not good that man should be alone.\u201d So he created a helper for him (see Genesis 2:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heart longs for relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, in his mid seventies said, \u201cWhen you get to be my age, you\u2019ll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That\u2019s the ultimate test of how you\u2019ve lived your life\u201d (\u201c10 Ways to Get Rich,\u201d Parade<\/em> September 7, 2008).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are no perfect relationships because we\u2019re all flawed. But our relationships can be very, very good when we understand love isn\u2019t a feeling<\/em>. It\u2019s a decision, an action, a commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere are no perfect relationships because we\u2019re all flawed. But our relationships can be very, very good when we understand love isn\u2019t a feeling. It\u2019s a decision, an action, a commitment. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Homes and lives disintegrate every day because people no longer feel<\/em> in love and abandon the relationship that once brought joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First Corinthians 13 gives characteristics of true love: patient; kind; never jealous, envious, boastful, proud, haughty, selfish, or rude; doesn\u2019t demand its own way; isn\u2019t irritable or touchy; doesn\u2019t hold grudges; hardly notices when others do it wrong; never glad about injustice; rejoices when truth wins out; loyal no matter the cost; always believes in the one loved, expects the best, and stands its ground in defending the one loved; goes on forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chapter concludes, \u201cAnd now theses three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.\u201d Love is a choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truths I\u2019ve learned about living in relationship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you in a difficult relationship? Here\u2019s good news! \u201cWhen a man\u2019s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him\u201d (Proverbs 16:7 NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\nAre you in a difficult relationship? Here\u2019s good news! \u201cWhen a man\u2019s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him\u201d (Proverbs 16:7 NIV). <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n When pleasing the Lord has priority, improving the relationship becomes his responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To build healthy relationships, we must mind our manners, remembering to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone willing to invest in the hard work of building and maintaining relationships can start by applying these commands in Scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rid yourself of anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy communication, and lying; clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and gratitude (see Colossians 3:1-17 NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we choose our clothing each day, we can choose to put on these qualities that bring peace to our relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bringing these qualities to a relationship, instead of obsessing about what someone else is not<\/em> bringing, gives the Lord great opportunity to work. The One Who designed relationships wants ours to flourish, bathed in his amazing love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be the kind of person you want your spouse or friend to be. We cannot change anyone else. But God has that power\u2026and he just might use our sacrificial love to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the Lord has brought healing to a difficult relationship in your life, please comment. And share this article with your friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2019 (reprinted)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life is relationship. God designed it that way. Adam, the first man, is the only person who had the opportunity to live without human fellowship. The Lord God said, \u201cIt is not good that man should be alone.\u201d So he created a helper for him (see Genesis 2:18). The heart longs for relationship. Warren Buffet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,9,284,283,285,658,657],"class_list":["post-1521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-anger","tag-dianne-barker","tag-kindness","tag-living-in-relationship-a-few-thoughts","tag-love","tag-love-is-a-choice","tag-respect"],"yoast_head":"\n