From the book "The Relationship Principles of Jesus" by Tom Holladay:
Relationships are painful. Relationships are wonderful. We all live in the drama that plays out between these two truths.
The book then went on to speak of the relationship of married couple Neal and Robin, which takes a turn that tore their world apart. Robin suffered a brain hemorrhage, and surgery might not be able to make her better.
"Neal's immediate response was simple faith and sacrificial love. He believed that God had a plan even in this dire circumstance, and Neal was committed to love Robin, no matter what it would take."
To cut the story short, Neal nursed Robin: he nurtured her, spoke to her with love, and little by little, he just loved her to unexpected restoration. Robin began to speak haltingly and was able to use her hands and arms again.
The greatest miracle, they say, isn't in the healing (they've seen bodies healed before) but in the love.
The book goes on to say that Jesus, "came to show us how to enjoy a new way of relating to God and others." "He came to begin a new relationship with you -- a relationship that will strengthen all your relationships" How beautiful and wonderful is that truth?
Jesus teaches us to prioritize relationships. When a teacher of the law asked him the question, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘
Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus' clear answer to this question has the power to take our breath away. By choosing these two commands as the most important of all the Old Testament commands, Jesus tells us how deeply he values relationships. He values our relationship with God, and he values our relationships with each other.
And indeed, how can we live in this world without the Lord and without each other? To be able to commune with God and with people is the best thing that a person can ever experience.
From beginning to end, nothing is more important than relationships. In the beginning, God created you for relationships. He made you to relate to him and to others. Miss out on relationships, and you're missing the core reason for which God put you on this planet.
Truthfully, there are times that we avoid establishing relationships with people for various reasons: to avoid getting hurt, some don't know how to relate, some are happy with just playing by themselves, or some are just plain lazy to establish a connection with people.
I very much agree with Tom Holladay when he says this:
A life without relationships may well be a simpler life, but it is also an empty life. The path to the greatest life possible and the greatest joy possible is found in the priority that Jesus taught us to keep at the top of the list: Place the highest value on relationships.
As I read on through this book for the next 40 days (or maybe even more), it's my prayer that we make our relationship with the Lord and among ourselves, our highest priority.
May God bless us all!
