Dear Friends,
I am writing this note to lay out the fundamental principles of building relationships on any level.
A relationship with a friend, spouse, and God is all the same when you lay it out in its basic form. What I mean is- for a relationship to ever reach its maximum potential it must be experienced in a intimate environment as well as a community environment.
Let's start with friendship. Have you ever been out with a friend, in Nashville that would mean have you ever been to a writer's night or a music showcase and met someone through your friend? And then after that encounter you only ever saw them again if it was through the mutual friend. This is a premature relationship. Yes, you do know this person to a certain degree, but you only know this person within the environment of having a mutual friend. There's still parts to this individual that you have not experienced and will not experience unless you both are put in an environment where there is no mutual friend and it is just the two of you. Now, I understand there are moments when the mutual friend walks away and the two individuals are left to communicate amongst one another but the connecting factor has already done their job by this point. This works the same way in regards to having a friend that you only experience in a one-on-one environment. There are parts to their personality that you haven't experienced because you haven't seen them around other people that they are comfortable with.
This is the same basic principle for when a man and a woman are courting. Yes, I said it! Courting! You will never fully know who she is until you see her around her friends and your friends. This is the same for the men, ladies. This is vital because it is very easy for the person of the opposite sex to put their best foot forward when courting but how they treat their guy friends and males treat their lady friends gives you a more in depth perspective of who they really are.
And again this is no different when it comes to a relationship with God. We must be willing to communicate with him behind closed doors and in the privacy of our own walls as well as within the community and body of people we find ourselves surrounded by.
This is how we experience the many facades of who God is as well as who others are. With us all being created in His image we all hold a part of Him that when you bring us all together make a body. This is why we must also be willing to build with others the same way we build with God, because by building with one another we are ultimately building what God intended for us to build, His Kingdom.
Now I understand we can't get to know everyone on an intimate level, but with those that we find ourselves surrounded by on a daily basis or a frequent basis we must be willing to build strong connections. If not than the relationship is premature and doesn't really have much of a chance to go anywhere.
For some of us this is a challenge because of our personal battle of how we would like people to see us versus who we really are. That is an obstacle that some of us must overcome before we can build a relationship with anyone. But then there is also the obstacle of opposite sex friendships and the sexual tension that comes with that as well as same sex friendships which can become awkward and uncomfortable for some because of the nature of what it may look like to others.
I'm not saying any of this is easy but that doesn't mean there aren't any basic principles. The biggest key here, like in any situation, is COMMUNICATION.
I say all this to say, that all of our relationships are connected but to fully understand them we must engage in them both intimately and publicly- from friends to our spouse and to God. There are no exemptions.
Love,
Robert
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