Relationships are huge to me. For one, relationships, by and large, are enjoyable to me. People are interesting; conversation is interesting, and holds my attention.
With that in mind, engaging in relationships is necessary as a human, and commanded by God for believers.
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making is a book that my mentor gave me months some time ago that I have yet to return.
I was reading it yesterday, and stumbled across this:
This quote was extremely relevant to a sermon that I had watched a few hours prior that the small groups pastor at my church, Spence Shelton, gave last week. His message was on the community of believers and how integral it is to our walks with Christ.
Hebrews 3:12-14 says:
"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end."
Spence explained that we must share our thoughts, sin, disappointments, marriages, and relationships with other believers--to prevent any one from "[falling] away from the living God." We also must "exhort one another every day", to remind each other that Christ is better. He is better than financial; marital; relational; personal success. We are sons and daughters that have the privilege of laboring for our King who rescued us.
We must confess to, share with, and exhort one another.
Relationships are for the purposes of sanctification and witness to the Gospel.
They are not supposed to make us uncomfortable--that is where our sin destroys God's perfect design.
Spence stated that when you are finally known for who you really are and you experience love and not condemnation, you experience the Gospel...and it changes you.
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