Prioritizing Quality Time
Listening to God for the purpose of understanding is important, and the other side of it, of course, is prayer.
Season 5, Episode 7 · Prioritizing Quality Time
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The story behind the idea
That relationship is to be healthy and thriving and real. It is reciprocal in the sense that first God loves you and graciously provides for you and you grow in your love for Him. It is because of that love and how it changes your heart that you are then able to go out and love your neighbor, any neighbor, all neighbors, or for some today, more challengingly, your spouse or parent. Instead of focusing in on that sequence, today I'm more interested in the how.
What stands out
He plans to use his words to better explain his love for you, to deepen your love for him, and to create more unity and strength between you. Listening to God for the purpose of understanding is important, and the other side of it, of course, is prayer. The Lord is showing me something, and now I get to talk to him about it.
Why it matters
There is simply no substitute right now for prioritizing quality time with your family. That means carving out time from your busy schedule for the people who we say at least matter more to us than anyone else in the world. Not some casual, distracted time where you're in the same house together, but time that is infused with quality, which I would describe for you today as making that other person feel special, feel heard and loved and important.
A faithful way forward
Just walking in the park and holding hands was special. Because this person is special, and for some reason you can't explain, you feel like life is better when you're with them. Then, of course, as I said earlier, life gets busy and trials get heavy and things get in the way.
Put it into practice
Then lastly, and I'll take a couple of extra minutes to share this because I think it's so crucial. If you are married with kids still in your home, you need to find a way to keep dating. If you've got some neighbors or friends or teenagers that won't burn the place down, you need time to walk together alone, to go out to dinner, to enjoy one another's company.
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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