Relationships

This year my resolution was "relationship"; a relationship with God, a relationship with others.  My focus was to be intentional about getting to know the people that are around me better, to go deeper than just "hi" and "how is your day".  Philippians 2:4, "not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."  I have had those opportunities, but I have also not been successful as I would have liked.  Either way, that is what God put on my heart at the beginning of the year, and I hope it continues to foster being intentional about building deeper relationships as we come up on a new year.

It is interesting, we just attended the Heritage Fair in Waco after Thanksgiving, and one of the events I attended was the "Creative Writing" class.  The Instructor Amanda talked about how our social media access has changed our level of creativity in our writing, and I would add our relationship with others.  This form of communication has added to our social connections by connecting us to what I would call, the "greater community" and in other ways it has hindered our face to face connections by offering connections via the internet that falsely represent a "relationship".

We need to look for ways to be intentional about our relationships.  One of the first steps is connecting with our neighbors.  Saying "hello" over the fence or stopping to talk while someone is walking their dog, to go a little deeper and learn about what is happening in the neighborhood.  Another way is to get involved with a local community group.  This could be your church, HOA, town government, school, or other civic group.

As an introverted guy in today's society it is not easy connecting with others in a deeper more meaningful way.  One way I have been been able to do this is through a small group bible study.  It has been a great experience connecting with those that we can safely share our life struggles, challenges, and triumphs.  This is great for becoming stronger in God's will for our life, but we must also expand our reach outside our Christian realm and embrace or at least engage with those that don't know Christ.

In all our relationships we need to be Christ like and show others the love of Christ even if we don't advertise that this is love that we are showcasing.  As Christian's we are representing the hands, feet, and love of Jesus whether we like it or not.  This really is the essence of being a Christian in the world today.