Relationships
Relationships are the most valuable thing we have on this earth. Let’s
look at just a few of the relationships that will truly make one rich.
Relationship
with the Lord
Jesus died so that you and I could have a
relationship with God. Christ had to die so that our sin would be atoned for
and that righteousness would be credited to our account, so that we could abide
(not just come temporarily) the presence of God—in fellowship, in communion
with Him, in intimate relationship.
First and foremost, cultivate your
relationship with the Lord. Spend time in the secret place, set aside time
alone with the Lord. It is in seeking Him by reading His Word and prayer that
we come to know Him the best. When our first priority is the Lord and He is our
focus, then everything else in life just seems to fall into place (Matt. 6:33).
Our relationship with the Lord is largely
dependent on our action; however. We will not stay close to the Lord if we only
spend time with Him once a week. In close relationship you have ever had, you
have invested quality as well as quantity time in. It is no different with the
Lord. If you are going to be in communion with Him, then He needs to be your
priority each day. You won’t be perfect in your walk, but you can be diligent.
Marriage
If you are married, then invest in your
marriage. Love your spouse and show it by serving them through loving actions.
Husbands, sacrificially love your wives. Wives, honor and respect your
husbands. Husbands, be sensitive to your wives and listen. Wives, be
encouraging and get behind your husband’s God-given calling and vision. Don’t
every stop making time to spend together and deepen your relationship.
Family
Devotions
When a family comes together to study
God’s Word and worship as a family, a strong bond will be built. It may be
awkward for many at first, but when consistently done, it can be the single
most important investment in your family because God is the focus and where God
is honored and placed first, He blesses. He must be worshiped not only in truth
(the right thing) but in spirit (the heart attitude, motivation).
Close
Friends
Close friends are a great blessing! My
grandfather said in the beginning that people where a lot closer when he grew
up. In my own life, I have been blessed with close friends. Two families in
particular are very close to mine and one is practically family! We spend time
together for hours and it feels like minutes. We are ourselves, there are no
walls up to guard how we look. We play games. We pray together. We discuss
politics, school, work, ministry, the Bible, practical living, encouragements
and struggles. All I can say is that my greatest blessing aside from my relationship
with the Lord and my family, is my close friends.
A friend
loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Prov 17:17 (KJV)
A man that hath friends must shew himself
friendly: and there is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother. Prov 18:24 (KJV)
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the
kisses of an enemy are
deceitful.
Prov 27:6 (KJV)
Homeschool
your Family
Homeschooling your children is actually a
Biblical mandate. What I mean is that God has commanded that parents teach their
children. Whether you allow others to teach your children or not, parents are
responsible before God for the education that they receive. When parents take
this charge seriously, it is a blessing to them and definitely to their
children.
And thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest
up. Deut 6:7 (KJV)
Homeschooling is not easy. However, it
is very rewarding. If you check out studies that have been done on
homeschoolers, they tend to be more diligent, self-sufficient, and mature than
their peers. I’m not saying that homeschooling gives you perfect kids, but when
your children are monitored by their parents through years of education and
daily life, they develop accountability and maturity in ways that public
schools just fail to do with shifting them around year after year and largely
just making them sit through lectures.
I was homeschooled growing up and can
testify that it wasn’t always easy. But looking back with college ending and in
my high school years, I know that I had a solid foundation and excellent
education given to me that few get today. I began to understand this when my
Biblical worldview began to clash with the more worldly view of my friends at
church in high school. My desire was for truth and Biblical support and
personal responsibility in politics, philosophy, etc…many of my friends simply
went with whatever they felt like or thought should be true. I am not trying to
say I am perfect, but I quickly realized that they had no standard for life and
many had no purpose in addition. I had been given an education rooted and
grounded in the Word of God and I was set on a course with a perfect standard
(God’s Word) and the encouragement of faithful saints throughout history
(missionary biographies, Biblically-based curriculum, and godly mentors and
teachers).
Resource
for Further Study: Upgrade: 10 Secrets to
the Best Education for Your Child by
Kevin Swanson
Disciple
Others
Teach the commands of Jesus Christ to
others. Develop close relationships with them (men with men & women with
women, Titus 2). Discipleship is involves teaching, but it also must be bound
together by a relationship between student and teacher. Jesus has commanded
that every mature Believer make disciples:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,
I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen. Matt 28:19-20 (KJV)
For when for the time ye ought to be
teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become
such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that
useth milk is unskilful in the
word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth
to them that are of full age, even
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil. Heb 5:12-14 (KJV)
