Ladies ~ 11.) Building, improving, and maintaining relationships and effective communication. Have you been hurt by people so much that you find isolation and exclusion comfortable alternatives? I dare say that we have all been hurt by mean-spirited people, we have all been hurt by faulty relationships, and most likely we’ve all had people that we love fail us …. and we have failed some of them at times. Sadly drama and head games abound … we live in a world full of hurting and sinful people and we ARE ourselves sinful people. No matter how intriguing isolation may feel it is not a good alternative for anyone; tempting? Yes, but not a good option nonetheless. When a person sets herself apart from others in a quest to be self-ruled and independent from relationships, accountability, counsel, advice, drama, other’s influence, responsibility, and answer-ability it is not good. God didn’t design us to be Islands. “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Prov. 18:1). This scripture is not suggesting that we need to submit our lives or decisions in life to every single person that wants to influence us. In many occasions this would be foolish. However it is true that it is wise to receive good godly counsel throughout our lives in order to help us to build good strong relationships. God has answers how to deal with sin and sinners … it is ALWAYS best to be ruled by Him and to submit our relationships to His leading. Do you trust God with your salvation and not with your relationships and reputation? Christians, in particular, have a calling to minister our gifts to the edification of the body of Christ’s church. He did not empower us with spiritual gifts so that we can go off and isolate ourselves from those who need us … and those that we also need in our lives. Lots of times we get hurt by faulty relationships and after awhile it can tempt us to put up walls and protective barriers to keep people, along with the unwanted drama that they bring with them, out of our lives. We get hurt … so we decide to put a hedge around our hearts so as to keep people from doing the same again. But this is not God’s plan or design for us. It is not good that we become Islands or hermits. If we isolate ourselves this only leaves us with one person to consult in our decisions in life … our self. That may sound appealing but it shouldn’t. Proverbs is replete with verses that teach the importance of wise and hearty counsel/advice. This proverb (above) warns that when we isolate ourselves that we cut ourselves off from all sound judgment. Our own view of ourselves is biased if we only advise ourselves we will be guilty of what made so many others fall - having done what was right in their own eyes. Deception, delusional living, selfish ambition, and beguilement are just some of the likely results of ostracizing ourselves from sound judgment. The truth is that we need godly people and they need us to be godly too. When I say ‘godly’ I don’t mean perfect … I simply mean people that sincerely love the Lord Jesus Christ that are striving to do right biblically. We need to go out into the world and our churches and be an example of godly friendship. This is hard to do … but it is needful and right. The whole wide world is watching God’s people … do they see a difference in how we walk in the area of relationships? Do they see us trusting God’s design for relationships? Do they see a Christ like difference in us? Homework - Step out (even if you feel vulnerable) and invite people into your life. Get involved in God’s work of ministering to people. Aren’t you glad Jesus doesn’t isolate from you and me when we are unlovely? People need to see Jesus through our Christianity.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:28:33 +0000
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