Most Christians have heard and even repeated the statement, “We were created for relationship, first with God then with each other.”

     In the image of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit we are built for community and fellowship, like the relationship they have.¹

     I pursue a greater understanding of this relationship and find it while working on the Bible study I co-facilitate at my church. I highlight this section of “He’s Where the Joy Is” written by Tara-Leigh Cobble: “We will only find true happiness and joy as we connect with His identity and purpose—loving and glorifying God with a love that points us outside ourselves to Him and to others.”

She adds, “Jesus summarized all the commands of God as love God, love others (Matt. 22:37-40). It’s the very purpose for which we were created.”

Acts of love are often portrayed as handing someone in need money or giving them a helping hand. But “agape” love, which is an intelligent act of the will, is much more and we accomplish it when we know what’s best for someone because we know them. Agape love is accomplished in relationship.

One of the ways I have built relationships with sisters in Christ is by participating in women’s Bible study. This has become my habit. First in the church I attended 23 years ago and now in the church my husband pastors.

Developing close relationships with women of different ages and backgrounds has increased my ability to love them and others.

As we delve into Scripture and discuss its application during Bible study, we learn about each other’s struggles; we become familiar with the personality traits of each sister in Christ both those traits labeled good and those categorized as bad; strongholds and weaknesses are revealed; spiritual and natural gifts as well as God given strengths are uncovered.

It is with knowledge and understanding that we find the ability to forgive one another, encourage and exhort one another, and truly love one another.

Satan points fingers– look at what that person said, look at what that person did. And thus, he divides us. Satan is a destroyer of relationships which is the opposite of God’s plan.

He got Adam and Eve to damage their relationship with God and he gets us to damage our relationship with one another.

Sin separates. It separated us from God and continues to separate children of God. Acts or words perceived as unkind, feeling slighted or overlooked can cause us to become offended.

But interaction and deep discussion gives us greater insight into the motivation of others. Also, it can reveal how our biases, our upbringing, our experiences narrow our perception and hamper our ability to truly love others. We assume a lot about others based upon our past.

We can develop negative views of people who aren’t like us. For example, if we are quiet and reserved, we may view someone boisterous as obnoxious but they may think we are a snob. Love makes allowances for differences. It does not easily walk out of relationships, whether a church body, a friendship, or a family.

1 Cor 13:4-8– Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. ESV

This is Christ-like love and it is easy to be Christ-like when we are alone. However, we put it into practice when we interact with one another.

Never ending love occurs when we get to know someone, really know someone, and come to understand all their idiosyncrasies.

Let’s Talk:

1-Have you ever formed a negative opinion about someone that changed once you got to know him or her?

2-How do you build relationships with other Christians? Do you only mix with those who are like you?

References:

1-“He’s Where the Joy Is, Getting to Know the Captivating God of the Trinity” by Tara-Leigh Cobble. Published by Lifeway Press in Nashville, TN.