Valuing Relationships
Life is based on relationships. Our main purpose for existing is to relate lovingly and uniquely to our Creator and to each other. And here is the greatest challenge and test — to love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself. Anything of significant purpose that one does is linked to some kind of meaningful relationship. This is why our lives are so impacted by others, especially parents, family, teachers, friends and peers. The need to love and be loved is an innate longing within that produces many actions and reactions, positive and negative, towards self and others.
Learning the art of good relations can be a lifetime quest. It requires a willingness to give and to forgive continually, and this can cause many to lose heart and give up on people who do not have the wisdom or strength to reciprocate such love. This type of discouragement and disappointment causes divorces, family breakups, and terminated friendships. Yet, when we watch the effective workings of good relationships, love, respect and trust for oneself and others from each person comprises the premise on which they are built. Therefore, each one is responsible for doing his/her part.
In this life, one has to pay a great price for evading and abusing relationships for which he/she has been entrusted. Fathers and mothers cannot abandon or abuse children and escape the penalty of their unwise choices. Nor can a husband or wife mistreat his/her mate and leap into another marriage peacefully blessed without settling all unfinished business of the prior relationship. If he/she does not deal honestly with personal faults and character flaws, that baggage is carried into the next relationship and can evolve into a depleting, viscous cycle.
Unhealthy cycles can be broken through honesty, prayer, and a commitment to change personally, for we cannot change others. Self-improvement means relationship enhancement. Since we have attracted people who have many of our own traits or the opposite but “packaged” differently, it is smart to look at them less critically and more inquisitively. One valid question to ask is, “Why did I attract this person into my life?” The answers discovered can be amazing. So, let’s keep an open mind and a positive attitude for learning all we can.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.” – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NKJV
Ella Coleman