Relationship

As we go through life we find it more and more difficult to escape the simple fact that we were created to be in relationship with each other and with God. We are unable to live productive lives in a vacuum. Many people have tried. They seek complete isolation. In the end all they achieve is alienation.

We all have a need to be in some kind of relationship with another. This need has been placed in us by God during creation. In the garden of Eden Adam had real intimate fellowship with the Almighty God. God spent time with Adam. He spoke to him. He taught him. God created Adam with the need to be in intimate relationship with Him and with other people. In Genesis 2:18 God demonstrated that He knew that it was not good for Adam to be alone. This social side could not be satisfied by fellowship either with God alone or with another human alone. Man was made to love God and his fellow man.

Unfortunately sin has corrupted, perverted and destroyed much of man's ability to have true fellowship with one another and God. When we get together there always seems to be the desire to find something in it for ourselves. We are selfish in so many ways. We want others to admire us, to love us, to want to do things with us, and even to please us. This can show up in unexpected ways. Anxiety is a product of this selfishness. We are so worried about what others think that we are unable to act or think or do anything. This is not the only way but just one example.

So what should our relationships look like. We can take our example from Jesus Christ. In John 15:15 we see that Jesus says"...I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." He shares everything he has learned from the Father with them. He shared the most important things he could with them. He put their needs ahead of His own.

In 1Corinthians 5:9-11 the proper formula for sustaining relationships to others is set forth. " I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." We are told to have relationships with brothers who act as brothers and not as the world does. We are told to live by the standards that Jesus has laid out for us. We are told to love them like Jesus loves us. We are told not to tolerate sin in our relationships with other believers.

This is a pretty tall order for us living today. All around us is the decay of society. We can't even turn the TV on without being visually assaulted by sexual images, violent images and all sorts of criminal behavior. That is just the news at 6 PM. Our churches have become mirrors of the world. We are even surpassing the world in depravity in some cases.