Romans 15:3-6

3 For even Christ didn't live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, "The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me." 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled.

5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this scripture Paul is telling us to take Jesus' example and live not for ourselves but for God. Jesus spent his entire life living to help other people. The invested time that He spend in relationships with others set the model of what God expects of us. We are called to be in relationships with others, which is to include all Jesus followers and non-Christians. That's right, even non-Christians. As Christians, we have been given the knowledge of God's existence and His purpose for all of us. God wants us to spread that knowledge to those who may not know it. Not by forcing the bible down their throats but by being in a relationship with them just as Jesus was to all of the lost people that He met.

This relationship with God can strengthen all kinds of other relationships in your life such as relationships with your friends, your husband or wife, your children, and so on. I'm a married man, and as any other married man can tell you, marriage demands a relationship. I've found that when I try to make my own decisions that only benefit me, I only end up hurting the relationship, but when I do it God's way and put Him first, that's when we are our strongest. There are some times where it seems we ignore God in our relationship. Those are the times when we are the farthest from one another. Needless to say, relationships are important, but more importantly is a relationship with God. I challenge you this week to focus on the relationships in your life and ask yourself, "Is God a part of this relationship?" God bless all of you!

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God created us in His image. He put us here to have a relationship with Him, as well as each other. In Genesis, it says that we fell from grace, that our relationship with God was broken. Adam and Eve betrayed God. They turned their back on Him. As humans, we are guilty today of the same thing. We do it to God. We do it to each other. God constantly pursues us for a relationship. He did so in Genesis, when He created us. He did it in Exodus when He gave Moses the 10 commandments. He wanted a relationship with us so badly, that He sent Jesus to us.

The New Testament is full of stories where Jesus shows us, leading by example, what relationships are about. He loves people unconditionally. He invites everyone to be in relationship with Him. He accepts people even though He knows that they are not perfect. He accepts people even though He knows they will betray Him. He desires a relationship with people even on the last day of His life.

When I think about my relationship with God and with others, I see that I fall short in both areas. Jesus loved people unconditionally. He accepted people wholly. He wants a relationship with others, us, so much that He was willing to sacrifice everything, including His life, to prove this to us. There are too many times where I am unwilling to forgive when someone has betrayed me. As I have grown more in my faith though, I constantly have to remind myself that God forgives us even though we have betrayed Him over and over again. It is a very humbling experience, for me, to remember where I was in my life a few years ago, and where I am now. If God can forgive me for what I did to Him and to others that I care about, then I need to be more forgiving to others. I have realized that until I can forgive others, I cannot fully enjoy relationships with others. I have learned to try and look for the good in others, just as Jesus did, and continues to do.

If our broken relationship with Him can be restored, then can we not restore broken relationships with others? I think that it is summed up in John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

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We were created for relationships. God intended for us to be in constant fellowship with Him and with each other, stating early in the scriptural account of creation that "it is not good for man to be alone." Following that statement, God created woman to accompany man through life. In the perfect condition of life before the fall, the man and the woman were, truly, relationally perfect. They connected to each other in a close and spiritual way, and were in constant communion with God Himself.

The fall, though, messed all of that up. Instantly, Adam and Eve became self-conscious about themselves, hid their bodies from one another, and tried to hide altogether from God. As a result of the original sin, relationships were nothing like what God had created them to be.

This rings so true in my own life. My insecurities, self-consciousness, doubts, anxieties, fears, and feelings of inadequacy drive me away from other people, and worse, away from God. I hide my true self and don't allow other people to see who I really am. Genuine relationships - ones like what God wanted when He created us for each other - cannot grow like that. Relationships of the heart require that the heart be shown. Intimate, spiritual relationships require that we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to someone else - whether it is God or another person - and allow that person to know and love us for who we are. Since the fall, mankind has been in hiding, just like I am. We build walls around our hearts and our lives to keep other people out, and in doing so, we only hurt ourselves. God created us for relationships with other people, and we are depriving ourselves of the abundant life He wants for us when we allow petty selfishness to take over.

Personally, I'd like to imagine myself in relationships that are open, vulnerable, comfortable, life-changing, and - ultimately - the kind of relationship God Himself wants with me. For that to happen, though, I have to get out of the way.

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I have always loved 1 Corinthians 13 and have included part of it as my focus for today's devotional.

God wants us to pursue relationships that are based on love. He will show and teach us how to love if we give Him our hearts and truly turn to Him. 1 Corinthians 13 expresses what love is; not how our world defines love and relationships.

Do you view people with preconceived ideas? God accepts them, so should we. He loves them, died for them...accept them the way they are. Romans 5:8 states that God accepted us while we were yet sinners. There were no criteria placed on us. How can we place higher standards on people?

Try to reveal yourself to another person....."be real", this will allow a relationship to form based on trust. Commitment is the next step in a relationship that will allow trust to be the foundation.

Try to step out in faith and see what God will allow in relationships in your life.

1 Corinthians 13:3-7,13 (NIV):

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

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Reading through the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis, we begin to understand that God pursues a relationship with us. In the garden of Eden, before the "fall", God walks through the garden with Adam and Eve and has a very open relationship with them. They all enjoy this relationship, and it seems that nothing could ever interrupt it.

Then Adam and Eve turn away from God, pursuing their own goals, doing exactly what God has instructed them not to do. From this point forward, the relationship is strained. God still loves Adam and Eve, but He has to discipline them just like a parent would discipline a child who rejects their authority.

From this story in the bible, I've learned that God really does desire a relationship with me. If I follow after Him and do my best to follow His plan for my life, our relationship is pure and honest and enriching. But when I turn away from Him and live life the way I want to, my relationship with God suffers greatly. My quest to stay in control and fulfill my own dreams without God leaves me unfulfilled and searching.

When God and I are separated by something I've done (or failed to do), all I really have to do is turn from my own selfish ways and turn toward God. I may have to "be still" for a while as I consider first what I have done and then consider all that God has done for me. God always finds me as I wait patiently for Him, and our relationship is mended. Just like many human relationships, my relationship with God can even grow stronger through my struggles.

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