Relationships Need Communications
Scripture: I Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
Lesson Objective: To understand the importance of communication with God and others.
The secret to great relationships is communications. We must desire a relationship with God and thus we must be in constant communications with God. This communications is in the form of prayer from us to God. Our goal is to have God walk with us every step and as such we have to be in constant conversation with God. This does not mean long prayers but does mean that as much as possible we should have God on our mind that may result in short prayers throughout the day. Just as importantly, we must listen to God as he communicates with us. Communications is a two way street. How would you feel if you were listening to someone during a conversation and after they said what they had to say, they just walked away without giving you a chance to respond? That is not communications.
Thought for today: How often do you have a conversation with God? Once a day?
Love Should Be Our Daily Aim
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:1
Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
Lesson Objective: To understand that love is a journey that is to be pursued daily in our walk with God.
Life is a journey, not a destination. This means that we are constantly seeking to be Christ like so that we can have eternal life with Christ in heaven. Paul teaches that we should pursue love. This pursuit should be our daily goal as love is the basis for all interactions with God and man. This is a constant goal for we are challenged daily to demonstrate that love in all that we do. The challenges may be at work with a co-worker or our supervisor or it may be at home with members of our family. We may find the challenge in a stranger on the street where we must decide if we are going to help or just walk away.
Thought for today: Is there a situation that you are encountering that can be best handled through true love as demonstrated by Christ?
We Are Not Meant To Be Alone
Scripture: Romans 12:5
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Lesson Objective: To understand that we are to be dependant on each other.
Society teaches us to become self-reliant and to depend on no one except ourselves. While this may sound good to some, it is totally opposite of what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we are all interwoven together to make up the body of Christ. We can think of ourselves as a quilt that is many small pieces that are sown together to make a beautiful design. The pieces that make up the squares of the quilt are useless by themselves but when they are sown together they become a handiwork of the artist. God has created each of us with unique designs but we are to be sown together with the thread of love to make God’s creation. The tighter the seams, the stronger and longer lasting the quilt.
Thought for today: Understand that we all have different strengths and it is up to each of us to identify that strength in others and use it together to build the Kingdom of God.
Friends Depend on Each Other
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.
Lesson Objective: To understand that all individual gifts must be shared so that the total body will benefit.
We are all placed on this earth to make a difference in the lives of others. Our gifts are not for us but for others. A gift is an item that you give to someone else. It is not to be stored up and never shared for then it cannot be a gift. We are all given a gift by God to foster the growth of the body of Christ. These gifts are like ingredients in a cake. While flour is important in making a cake, it is not the only ingredient and if too much flour is used, the cake will not taste good. No one ingredient is more important than the other even though we may use more flour than flavoring or more flour than eggs. Each ingredient is added to make the cake a unique cake to be enjoyed by all.
Thought for today: I challenge you to make a definitive decision to make a difference in the life of another each day.
Friends Experience Life Together
Scripture: Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
Lesson Objective: To understand that friends share the joys and sorrows of each other.
True fellowship requires that we experience life together. This means that friends share the good, the bad and the ugly. Have you ever tried to share a movie that you have seen or a place that you visited with someone and just could not get them to really appreciate what you were trying to share? It is so much easier to share your thoughts with someone who had seen the same movie or visited the same location. You have so much more in common to talk about and share your emotions and thoughts. True friends experience life together to a point that they often times can complete sentences or know exactly how the other may react in a given circumstance. How wonderful it is to share the love of God with someone who truly understands and shares that experience with you.
Thought for today: Make sure that you have someone in your life with which you can share the love of Christ.
Friendships Have Commitment
Scripture: Ephesians 4:3
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Lesson Objective: To understand that true friendships require work.
Commitment is a word that is easy to say but can be difficult to follow. The dictionary defines it as a promise, pledge or obligation. Too often today, we make it easy for one to walk away from promises or pledges. True friendships require commitment which means that things are not going to always be rosy and that there will be tough times but you persevere through it all because you are committed to the relationship. In politics it is often said that there are no lasting friends but lasting interest. If the interest of us all is to get to heaven then we must be committed to working diligently to maintain our lasting friendship with Christ and other believers.
Thought for the day. You can enjoy your freindship when you work on it.