Welcome to Weekly Topic Saturdays!
Hello all, I pray that your week was filled with joy and love. Welcome back to those who have been with me here at A Golden Dream. For my first-timers, a great big hello there, if you haven't already please check out my previous posts when you get a chance.
Please don't hesitate to join the conversation, there are no right or wrong answers or questions. I'm not proclaiming to know everything, I am simply just discussing and picking topics on things that I personally have gone through and that I know would help someone.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
I want us to talk and think about the importance of relationships. I pondered on this idea when I was nose deep in my Bible and learning about all the relationships Jesus developed over the course of his life and even after his life.
How important are relationships to you?
The Bible itself shows the importance of relationships. You cannot find one story in the bible that isn’t tied to other people of some kind. Let alone a relationship that doesn’t involve God or Christ. In some way or fashion, it leads to them.
We cannot be disciples of Christ if we don’t like relationships. PERIOD. I had to learn this the hard way. Over time I could not stand people. I hated people. (Ouch, I know right) I hated being disappointed by people and being misunderstood. I've been let down, lied on, been taken advantage of, and betrayed. Who wants to be associated with that?...No one!
Once I started taking my relationship with God seriously, I realized I was dead wrong in how I viewed relationships as a whole. Because I was around people that were hurting me, I made a boundary that was not supposed to be there. I stopped myself from allowing anyone in and I cut myself off from trusting. This was the wrong way to go about it because it meant that, in my eyes, everyone was the same. This isn’t the case because everyone is different, but I was placing the problems that I had from one relationship on all of my relationships and that wasn’t fair to myself or others. I had to learn that just because one person hurt me doesn’t mean that another person will hurt me. Each relationship deserves a “tabula rasa,” a blank slate, to start fresh with. Failing to see that can cause you to miss out on a lot of great people. One thing that I will always say is that the Bible is the only book that will teach you, inspire you, encourage you, correct you, and transform you all in the same chapter let alone the same verse.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
2 John 1:6
So let’s dig a little deeper, shall we!
Like I mentioned before, you can’t be a Christian and hate people. You have already violated a commandment and a law with just that statement. If you don't know them then let me list them. Give me a moment.
...'Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'
Matthew 22:37-40
So that’s not good. Yes, people can be mean and hurtful but with God all things are possible. It is possible to love people from afar. It’s also possible to change your response to how people treat you. That’s Self- Love! I have had my share of relationships where people have literally made my blood boil and I had to go to God and say, “Look, God, Please get your children, because this one is getting on my nerves!”
Yes, I talk to God just like that! Lol.
When I met my best friend she told me the same thing, she hated people, but she was a people person. Ironically, she wants to be a therapist!.... Like how does that work, girl! Through discovery, we determined that it is not the person she hated but their actions. People, in general, can do some really deplorable things that make it hard to trust and forgive. Just like the law stated, we have to love them past their faults and have unconditional positive regard for them just like our father does for us!
Can you LOVE past pain and hurt?
The Most Important Relationship You’ll Ever Find
It’s with God. Point Blank Period! God is THE most important relationship that we will ever have. He is the source and resource of our lives. The bible is an operating manual that shows us time and time again that without God we will perish because without him nothing is possible. Nothing!
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:26
How Can I rekindle or start my relationship with God?
1. Prayer
Father who is in Heaven and sits on the throne above,
I submit to your will and to your way.
You are the God that orders my steps
And knows the way my life will surely go.
I humbly submit and get out of your way.
Lead me and guide me along the way.
Strengthen me and my discernment to know right from wrong
Cover me with your anointing power.
You said you will help and never leave my side
And I am forever grateful. You said you would hold me up with your righteous hand and give me hope and light.
Let me have a yearning desire to follow you and read your Word
Let this prayer I say to you reach your ear
In Jesus Name
Amen.
2. Reading the Word of God (manual)
3. Activating your Faith
4. Worshiping Him for Who He Is!
5. Mediating on HIS Word
6. Have a Little Talk with God!
a. He is always there ready and willing to listen at any given moment. He would never leave you or forsake you. Even though he is all-knowing he still wants to hear from you. He is waiting for you to reach out to him.
b. When you talk to him, don't be afraid to have a candid conversation. I think that many are afraid to talk to him because they feel that they have to be formal and that is not the case. Have respect when you talk to him, but remember that he is also your friend.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him
1 John 4:16
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
Bible Scriptures about LOVE:
Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5:
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:3-4
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love
Ephesians 4:2
Bible Scriptures about The Importance of Relationships
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
Questions To Consider:
1. Do you value your relationships? How important are they to you?
2. Do you have a relationship with God? How is it going?
3. Does your relationship with God need areas of improvement? Like leaning on him more? Praying more perhaps? More faith in him?
With Love, I encourage you to think about just how important relationships are. Think about what they mean to God and how he feels about each and every one of them. God wants us to be at peace with everyone whenever possible. Don’t let your love for others have limitations because God's doesn’t. Get along with your brothers and sisters in Christ because we are all apart of the body of Christ. Work on building a sturdy foundation with him so that your relationship may flourish. God wants us to reach out and seek him.
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen
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