To Love Is To Be Brave

Something that I've been thinking about, wrestling with more accurately, lately is how to have a God centered relationship. Now I'm not talking solely about boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, I mean relationships in general. Like with your friends or your sibling or your parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles. These kinds of core relationships everyone deals with on a daily basis.

But how do we have good relationships with them? Everyone's had issues with their family, fights with their friends. It's natural really, even in healthy relationships, to argue once in awhile. But what I'm talking about is having a God centered relationship with the people in your life. How do you do it?

This is been something I've questioned for a while now. What I've come up with is quite honestly, not what I wanted. I wanted a twelve step plan to having the perfect relationship on the first try. The thing is, relationships are messy. Love is a risk. To give someone your heart is giving them the ability to break you, yet trusting them to hold it.

Thing is, we're human. We don't have the ability to hold someone's heart without ever breaking it. It's like placing fine china in the hands of a toddler. That isn't the smartest thing to do. So what do we do then? Never love because we're afraid to get our hearts broken? 

No. What we must do is trust God to protect our hearts. If you place the fine china in the toddler's hands it will surely break, but if you give the china to the mother, with skilled hands, she'll carry it. Just as, if we give our hearts to the Lord to hold, He'll skillfully carry it and guide you in the ways you should go. I heard a quote once that went something like this: "Follow your heart but take your brain with you." God will give you the discernment on who to trust if you ask Him and truly listen to the answer, not letting your own desires cloud His voice.  

The closer we are to God, the more we'll love one another. The Lord will show us who to give our hearts to. Wisdom comes from the Lord and if we seek Him, He'll keep our hearts fulfilled. The closer we are to God, the more our love for other's will look like His. One of the most well known passages in the Bible is in Corinthians, known as 'the love verses' is this: 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

If we learn to love like that, I believe we'll see a transformation in our relationships. It won't be easy by far. If you just skimmed over that verse because you read it before, read it again. Look at what real, pure, Christ given love entails. It's not rude, it always trusts, it protects, it doesn't boast, it's not self-seeking. How many of these have we all fallen short on? I know I have on many occasions. 

If we look at that verse, in a way, there is a plan to better your relationships, but it isn't an easy one. It's something that we have to learn and relearn and continue to practice our whole lives. It's by far one of the greatest lessons a person can learn. The first two commandments the Lord said are "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." 

At the center at every good, lasting, healthy relationship is love. To love is to be brave.