The Most Important Relationship You Will Ever Have…
I want to talk to you today about the most important relationship you will ever have :
Psychologists have said for years how important the parental relationships are during the formative years of childhood. Whether we like it or not, how we interacted with our parents plays a major role in how we approach every aspect of life. If you were blessed to have good, loving, moral parents, chances are life has gone pretty well for you. If not, and like me, you came from a dysfunctional family, then you have probably had your fair share of struggles. People spend millions of dollars every year to attend counseling in hopes of working through their struggles from childhood and past relationships that have left them broken, disillusioned and discouraged in life. Relationships are important! They help to frame who we are and how we handle the life we are in. Many times we base our entire worldview upon the type of relationships we were in as children. If we were alone and abused, then we see our world through a victim’s eyes. If we were loved and encouraged, then we see the world as a place of opportunity. Yes, relationships ARE important, and if we say that we do not need people, that statement alone is quite telling about how we have been affected.
The most important relationship in our lives is also Parental. Many people go through life without even recognizing that it is available to them. And many still, who have knowledge that it is possible, don’t see their need for it. What I am talking about is a relationship with God. He is called many names in the bible, one of which is “ABBA FATHER”. What does the word “Father” mean to you? For me, “father’ meant someone who was a workaholic, someone who was critical, and disinterested in family life. My earthly father provided well for us financially and considered his job ‘done’, anything beyond that was an inconvenience to him unless it was something he enjoyed doing himself. A a young child, I quickly tuned into the fact that money and self-service was the most important thing in the family, which meant I was always beneath those two priorities. Now, to be fair, I grew up in the eighties, so this was the society focus of the day- build your career, build your possessions and have fun! Everyone was being told that they could ‘have it all’ . And my parents gave it their very best to see that we had it. The only problem, was that the one thing we really needed, was never pursued or nurtured: LOVE. I am not talking about a surface-type love, I am talking about real love that nurtures the depth of your soul. Whatever our family applied our efforts to always came up lacking, there was always SOMETHING missing. We jumped from activity after activity, belief after belief, searching for something that would fill our need to be loved and accepted. Something that could help guide us through our turbulent life, but to no avail.
When I was 20 years old, and a single mother to boot, I met a wonderfully kind young man named Daniel. We began dating and he began sharing a level of love with me that I had never experienced in my life. He was kind, gentle, but firm in his moral convictions; and he was not ashamed to tell me why he believed what he believed. He began with this passage in Psalm 139:
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.”
Daniel, compassionately and lovingly told me how I was made on purpose by an awesome God and that I was no mistake, he explained to me that I was placed on earth for a reason and that if I wanted to know why I was here, first I needed to know the One who placed me here. I often say that when I met Daniel I immediately likened him to my “Prince Charming”, but I had no idea that he was about to lead me to the King of Kings. I did not come easily at first, Daniel kept inviting me to church, and even though I protested, I always found myself in the pew on Sunday mornings. The pastor and Daniel, continued to preach the salvation message, repentance of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the empowered Christian life. After a while, I knew that God was the answer for this lifelong void I had been feeling, but I was not convinced that Jesus could accept someone like me. I mean, here I was, 20 years old, and weighed down with every sin you could think of. I didn’t know what it was like to be righteous, and I didn’t think that someone like me could even come close. Maybe you are like that, maybe you think, ” I have done so many wrong things…”
Before I share with you how to start the most important relationship you will ever have, let me reassure you that it does not matter what kind of sin you have in your life. Jesus WILL forgive it all. I want to include a specific quote directly from Him so that you may hear it from His own mouth:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. – John 6:37
*** He promises wholeheartedly to accept you when you come to Him. Do not think for one moment that you are beyond salvation and forgiveness of sins.
In the bible, John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” Believing in God’s Son is so much more than simply acknowledging His existence… the original definition of that word “believe” when the New testament of the bible was written actually means “to entrust oneself entirely to”. This included physical well-being, and emotional well-being, in addition to one’s spiritual well-being. When you think of the definition of ‘believe’ in this light then, you can see that believing in the Son of God is quite a commitment. The following is an easy way to receive salvation and begin your walk with the Savior :
The A B C’s of Salvation
Admit:
Believe:
Commit:
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
If you want to learn more about the Christian life and how to live it, you can also visit the following sites:
http://www.kcm.org/real/index.php?p=salvation_teachings_01
http://wayofthemaster.com/10principles.shtml ( this is an excellent site to also learn what to do after you have received salvation!)
Finally, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we want to rejoice with you! Send us a comment through this website and we will pray for you as you begin your journey!
My final word:
Let God be your Father, let Him show you what a Parent is supposed to be and soak it up like a sponge! You will never regret your decision!
