
Over the last fifty years, I have had great sorrow and great love; learned how to grow in a relationship and learned what can cripple it before it has a chance to even begin. I am lucky to have a wonderful wife who loves me, trusts me and talks with me. It's something I never had before, and learned the three pillars of relationship are the most important things one can have in ANY relationship.
In all honesty, it does not matter if the relationship is the one you have with God, with your spouse or even with yourself, it will always come down to these three pillars.
Communication, Love and Trust.
Communication is the foundation, if you cannot talk to one an other how can you go any further? In your relationship with God it comes in the form of prayer and listening to His Holy Spirit. With another person, it is sharing your heart, your ideas; and in turn being interested in what they have to say as well. Communication within yourself is a little different. Being honest with yourself and listening to what your body is saying rather than ignoring what your mind, body and spirit are trying to tell you.
Love is the choice in a relationship. In 2 John 1:6, John tells us this: "Love means doing what God has commanded us, and He has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning." Love is more than an emotion love is a choice, and to build a relationship with someone we are called to love them. This means loving yourself as well as loving God and others which is harder sometimes than we would like to admit. When we chose to love someone we take them blemishes and all, giving them mercy and forgiveness as we ourselves were given it by a righteous and loving God.
Finally, we have trust which is the equity of a relationship. When we build a relationship, we grow in trust with them and come to depend on them being there for us. This depth depends on the relationship, I depend on my wife Connie a lot more than I depend on my friend Kyle, and I depend on myself more than my wife, and depend on God more than any of the others put together! This growth of trust continues as the relationship goes on, strengthening the love and allowing the communication to flow.
In a healthy relationship, when one of these pillars is hurt it is supported by the others until the broken pillar can be restored. If trust is broken, then loving the person and talking to them helps to restore the relationship. If communication breaks down, we trust the other person, loving on them and reaching out. If we are hurt and feel less loving towards them, we still trust in them and can communicate our feelings, helping to restore what had been hurt.
As I have said before, these three pillars are in each and every relationship we have, and require us to watch over them. The stronger we grow theses pillars, the stronger the relationship will be. Think about the relationships in your life, which ones would you like to be stronger. Do you want a deeper connection with God? Talk to Him, love Him, Trust in Him. Do you want a better marriage? Love your spouse even when you do not want to, trust in them and support them even when they have struggled. Talk to them! Above all keep those lines of communication open so they know where you are mentally, physically and emotionally; and invite them to do the same. You might be surprised where this leads you.
May God bless you and keep you, watching over you in all of your relationships. You are loved, your are cherished and you are an awesome child of God.
Join us as we discuss this further in our webinar on February 6th at 7pm. Click the button below to register.
コメント