Relationships are always going to be shaping and moulding you as long as you’re alive on this planet. Recently, we gathered to ponder four specific and significant relationships that will define you.
These four are:
1. Your relationship with other people
2. Your relationship with God
3. Your relationship with money
4. Your relationship with yourself
1. Other people.
It has been said that you become the sum total of the five people you hang around the most.
That could be a scary thought!
Are they Angry, Foul-mouthed, & Pride-filled, or Loving, Caring, Successful, Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise?
Your relationships with people you like AND the people you don’t like will define you and who you are, or become.
How you treat others reveals a lot more about you, not them.
Your friends will make or break you.
As a teen, they broke me… Bad decisions, poor choices, wrong path.
Thank God for His grace that He brought me back to Himself through the care of my cousin who placed value in his relationship with others (me!).
How is your relationship with others? Are you blessing those who curse you, or cursing those who bless you?
Who are you spending the majority of your time with? Is that wise?
Psalm 1:1 “Happy are those
who reject the advice of evil people,
who do not follow the example of sinners
or join those who have no use for God.”
2. God
This one should go without saying… but doesn’t.
All the other relationships will flow from this one.
Is your relationship with God solid? You will likely enjoy solid friendships around you. Is it inconsistent and neglected? Your friends/friendships will reflect this.
In a world that some days seems like it’s gone mad, God is your baseline.
Hebrews 2:1-3
“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?”
There is no neglecting this relationship without repercussions along the road.
3. Money
The bible says a lot about money and it ain’t all bad.
What do you think is meant by “your relationship with money”
How you view money will determine a lot of your life.
How you view it. How you treat it. What you believe about it.
Do you think money is evil?
Can a piece of paper be evil? Is it not more the intentions and actions of the holder?
While the bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, you cannot live on this earth without it so you better make friends with it now and learn how to treat it!
1 Timothy 6:10
“Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief.”
When you view your interactions with money as a relationship it helps to put it in perspective.
Do you treat it well?
Does it want to hang around you?
Do you respect it?
Is it a hard task master or your servant?
Money is inanimate in itself, it’s neutral and neither good or bad – It will be what you make of it.
You can use money to plan and build your life and bless others, or you can use it to destroy yourself and those around you.
Consider carefully your relationship with money and study the scripture for wisdom concerning it.
Proverbs 23:5 “Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.”
Psalm 112 “Praise the Lord!
Happy are those who respect the Lord,
who want what he commands.
2 Their descendants will be powerful in the land;
the children of honest people will be blessed.
3 Their houses will be full of wealth and riches,
and their goodness will continue forever.”
4. Yourself
Identity is in crisis.
Not knowing who you are or where you belong can be a part of growing up… I know it was for me. But when that remains long-term, it can become a massive issue.
Your relationship with yourself will determine many things in life…
Can you laugh at yourself?
Can you talk to yourself?
Is it positive?
1 John 3:20 “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
Who you are is not tied to your environment: Where you live, how much money you or your parents have, the clothes you wear, which school you go to…
Your identity, who you really are, is tied to eternity, not how people see you in this world.
To find out who you are, answer this question:
Matthew 16:15 “He [Jesus] pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”
And if your answer is,
“You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Then you know who you are.
Romans 8:16,17
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, … “
Conclusion
You are going to have to be bold to take hold of these four relationships and consciously make an effort in each of them.
1. When it comes to your relationship with other people, are you treating them the way you would want to be treated? Are you being the kind of person that someone would want to be with? The kind of person that you would want to be with?
Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV) “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, …”
2. Is your relationship with God consistent? Or have you let it go? This will determine how you view and act in all your other relationships.
Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
3. Is money your servant or your master? Determine that now, even if you have none currently. Will you build or destroy with it? It will be what you make it.
Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender.”
4. Are you good with you? Get hold of the Word of God and remind yourself of who you really are in God through Jesus. Stop listening to your self-condemning talk.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
The first step in all this is your relationship with God…
Get it started, or restarted.
Re-ignite.
Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Be Blessed & Be a Blessing
Graham T Byles
Great post 🙂
Thank you 😎