John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.“
A relationship with God is the most important relationship that you can have. The health of your marriage, your family relationships, friendships and business relationships also reflect on your personal walk with the God. When relationships are centered on the word of God things can change.
If you are not abiding in God and he in you, then you don’t have a solid foundation to stand on in any relationship. If you don’t spend quality time in your relationship with God, how would you know that quality time is important in nourishing your other relationships. If you don’t spend time talking to God, how would you know what effective communication looks like in your other relationship. If you only call on God when you need him then that lack of involvement will show up in your other relationships.
A true relationship with God will teach you how to be honest and trustworthy in other relationships. If God is not an intricate part of your life, you will not understand the value of love, fellowship and relationship. We have to love those who we are in relationships with as God loves the church. If you don’t understand God’s unconditional love, you can’t give unconditional love. That means loving someone for the God in them and not the flesh that they are wrapped in. Seeing them as God sees them, seeing them as a soul, looking past their faults and understanding their needs and loving without judgment, or blame.
We also have to ask ourselves if we are walking in the spirit of pride? Pride can corrupt your thinking to the point that you are no longer who you were intended to be. Galatians 6:3-4 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. If everything is always about what you need, what you want or what you like or don’t like, then you must first examine yourself before judging others. Love shouldn’t be based on what someone can do for you or how they make you feel about yourself or if they make you happy. If you are looking to someone else for your happiness., then you definitely need to seek God. If your marriage or any relationship is built on satisfying your own vainglory, then you are in it for the wrong reasons. Only God can fill that emptiness and make you whole.
Stop looking for what you can get from another person instead look for how you can serve that person. Stop looking for other people to be something that only God can be in your life. When you change yourself, you can change your relationships. You can foster Godly relationships and friendships with others without malice. You can have relationships with the opposite sex without it being romantic or sexual. When you understand who you are and who they are and what purpose they serve in your life then you will see them as a kingdom connection. You will see them as someone who God has placed in your life to carry out his assignment. You will walk in the spirit and not the flesh. Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You will see them as an extension of God, and you will ultimately live a life of peace.
Marilyn Fenderson Ministries 