Skip to main content

Relationships

             Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

 

            Another issue that deserves our consideration as we prepare for a new year is the question of our associations, which strikes close to home. I have worked for, been associated with, and had friends who did me no good. I knew it at the time, but I thought I could do good in their lives, but instead, it seems to me that I was dragged down.

            This isn’t a suggestion that we become snooty. It’s not about only associating with the best and the brightest or with those who can get you where you want to go. It’s not about thinking you’re too good for this person or that. It’s not about announcing on Facebook that you’re going to go through your friends list and delete anyone who hasn’t interacted with you enough. (What’s enough?) It is about forming relationships that don’t drag you – or them – down.

            And perhaps even more, it’s about being conscious of your relationships. Who are the people who build you up and are there when you need help? Who are the people that you enjoy helping? Who encourages you? Who challenges you? Who can you encourage or challenge? Is there someone who needs to hear what they mean to you? Is there someone who needs your forgiveness? Or someone from whom you should seek forgiveness. Did you seek your relationships or simply find yourself in them? Did someone adopt you as a project?

            Granting that the first relationship you should work on is with God, what’s the second? The third? What are specific steps you can take to improve them?  

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more