Bringing Your Relationships Into Focus - Day 4

Today, I'm just going to ask you to answer 4 questions - nothing fancy - just four simple questions about your relationships.

Question 1: What relationships need to be initiated in your life?
For example, when Jesus came to earth, what is one of the first things that He did? To establish the Kingdom of God on earth, He initiated twelve relationships. He chose people that others wouldn’t have chosen, but He saw kingdom potential in twelve ordinary men. He recruited them, called them, trained, equipped, and sent them. Jesus chose and initiated these relationships.

We all need to initiate relationships with others. Both relationships in which you are helping them, and they are helping you. many of You are basically going through life without intimate Christ following friends. without support, and without acccountability. You don’t have the strength of Biblical community, and you need to initiate it. Ask God, “Is there some relationship that You want me to initiate that would help fulfill Your plan for my life?”
And of course the most important relationship that any of us could have is our relationship with God. God has initiated it by sending his Son Jesus, but have you responded to his invitation?


Question 2: What relationships need to be nurtured in your life?
If you want to have healthy relationships in life, then you must spend time to develop and nurture those relationships. Scripture teaches us in Galatians 5, that we nurture relationships by serving one another in love. How does this play out? If it’s your marriage, do something about it. Commit to spending time together and doing whatever it takes to nurture that relationship.

If you have a friendship that is struggling, you need to intentionally seek out time with this friend. Once a month, decide to take them to lunch. Maybe you start praying together or reading God's Word together. If You’ve got a relative that you love, but that you don't spend time with, get out your phone, or go visit. You commit to nurture whatever relationship needs nurturing. You seek God. You need to be incredibly serious about this. Life is about relationships.

Question 3: What relationships need to be restored in your life?
Maybe you have a relationship that's broken, and it’s not where God wants it to be. Maybe there’s a parent that you’re not close to. Maybe it’s a child that’s gone the wrong way, and so you’ve written them off. Maybe it’s a friend who wronged you, someone at work that hurt you. You’re holding a grudge. It could be a Christ follower who did something that was not Christ-like, and because of that, you want the world to know.

How do we go about restoration? Well, the Bible tells us this. Colossians 3:13, we are told to, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” We are told to Forgive.” as the Lord has forgiven us.” Whenever I don’t want to forgive someone, all I have to do is remind myself how God has freely forgiven me when I have sinned against Him infinitely more times than someone else has sinned against me. Let me urge you to take time to restore those relationships.

Question 4: What relationships need to be severed in your life?
What I am talking about is severing a relationship that is outside the will of God, one that is hurting your relationship with God. Here’s what scripture says, point blank. The Bible says, I Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character.” It’s a lot easier for bad company to pull you down than it is for you to pull bad company up. Bad company corrupts good character. Have you ever heard, you are who you run with.”

A good indication of someone's character is who they surround themselves with. Look at their closest friends. If their friends are pursuing the heart of God, chances are pretty good that they will be as well. If you are running with a group of people that don’t have the time of day for God, people that give God lip service but no life action, chances are, that you will end up in the same place. You need either redefine that relationship or sever that relationship right now. Bad company corrupts good character.


Next Steps for Today:

• Review these four questions and think of people in each category.
  
• Take the necessary actions to initiate, nurture, restore, and sever these relationships
• Pray that God would use you to help disciple someone, and that you would have someone in your life that is discipling you.

Prayer for Today:
Dear Father, I pray that you will help us see the importance of strong healthy relationships in life. I pray that we as Christians will be known for our love for one another, a love that is demonstrated by the relationships we build in our lives. Help us to have the courage and boldness to initiate new relationships, the patience and love to nurture existing relationships, the love and forgiveness to restore broken relationships, and the wisdom to sever harmful relationships. We pray that our relationships will give others a glimpse of the love that you have for us.