Evaluating Your Relationships
The single best indication of how God's grace has filled your heart to change your life is seen in the condition of your relationships.
Season 5, Episode 6 · Evaluating Your Relationships
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The story behind the idea
Let me make a somewhat bold claim here and use the rest of the episode defending it. The single best indication of how God's grace has filled your heart to change your life is seen in the condition of your relationships. I want you to notice a couple of things in that statement.
What stands out
I mean, they could have put down the pen a little earlier and made things a lot simpler. God loves you, he's given you a million reasons to love him, go out and worship him and make offerings in his name. Ephesians chapters four through six, Colossians chapters three and four, Romans chapters twelve through fifteen are largely committed to God instructing you to go out and demonstrate the nature of your love for him and the way that you treat other people.
Why it matters
Your path of holiness from God's grace to your faith to a holy life means that the power of God begins to live through you in all relationships, in every relationship. I'm not being so naive as to say that if you demonstrate the grace of God that all of your relationships will be good. I mean the conduct of the other person will certainly be a factor on how it all goes, but they mustn't be a factor on how you go.
A faithful way forward
I won't go all the way back through this, but do you see what we did there? We found what we needed to interact with and influence the world, even in very challenging situations, by drawing our strength and our perspective from God's grace to your faith into their life. The second category is certainly unmistakable if you've ever read your New Testament. Holy living, and quite explicitly, your overall relationship with God is expressed and nurtured by the way that you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Put it into practice
I have to openly admit a few important things, and I hope that you do similarly. The kind of husband that I am is the kind of Christian that I am.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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