Therefore, encourage and build each other up as you are. 1 Thessalonians 5:1
Designed for Relationships
No matter how hard I try, it’s hard to maintain friendships without proximity.
Looking back, I see the vast number of friends I’ve known in school from first grade on through pharmacy school, all the friends I’ve made through work and business over the years, and all the relationships I’ve developed in church and other gatherings of believers. I recognize how each of those relationships somehow enriched my life.
But there’s never a substitute for being with someone consistently, continuously.
God designed for us relationships to give and receive His love.
That is done through contact.
Just like an unplugged lamp doesn’t give light, an unplugged relationship doesn’t give life.
We must try to be in touch to give—and thus receive.
Regardless of the time between meeting or calling each other, I still have a few friends who it’s as though we were never apart.
But this happens only with contact.
My relationship with Christ is the same.
Without an ongoing, conscious conversation with Him, my life becomes less about Him and others and more about me.
When this happens, I can feel my energy seeping away as I try to meet my needs outside Him.
Loving is more than just an emotion; it is deliberately being with and giving to others.
In the riches of the grace of Jesus Christ, may you experience a lifetime of faithful giving, authentic living, and genuine loving from now on.
In what ways have you neglected or avoided being in close relationships with others?
How would the lives of others be enriched if you were more present with them?
Lord, may we value You and our time together as paramount to our living. May every relationship You have given us be enriched by Your love flowing through us to them. Amen