One recent truth that I discovered is the growth factor in my relationship with God and others shed light in some areas in my life that I wish to see growth.
What is growth? Growth to me is learning. I believe the moment we stop learning, we stop growing. In fact, our brain is constantly active, the moment it stops, our body stops functioning. When our brains are active, we learn.
In fact, bible promises us youth if we keep growing in His presence.
"Good people will prosper like palm trees, Grow tall like Lebanon cedars;transplanted to God's courtyard, They'll grow tall in the presence of God,lithe and green, virile still in old age."
Psalm 92:12-14(MSG)
Jesus set a great example. Even Jesus grow.
And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.
Luke 2:52
Growth is part of humanity & godliness.
Now, it is good to get our brains to work but I think we need to put our right thinking cap so that our entire being can function as it should be.
Paul says in Roman 12:2, it is by the renewing of mind that we knows the will of God. It is a process.
Having said that, what we need to think about? Let's see what He says in this area of our life.
Majority of us agree that love is the centre piece of all great relationship. We inevitably look for love in relationships but where do we go from here?
We are not a great lover of people but God does. God is love. When we love God, we will love others and it can see from the other way round.
Jesus say He who does not love, does not love God.
So, we can conclude that God wants us to love as God loves others.
As much as growth is a process, so is loving God & His people.
Most of us might agree that love does not come naturally. I am part of the statistics of that but I truly believe love is an ongoing process of growth and learning.
Love grows in many facets in our life but there are apparent principles seem to work well in many great relationships.
It is almost impossible to grasp the full meaning of love.
I believe there is some principles that give us good practical ways that we can learn in search of the "love"ly & godly way to a growing friendship.
With that in mind, there is one quotation that strikes my heart one day. It says,
"Love is not a possession but a growing entity". By.Henry Ward Beecher
With this, I reckon we can see our relationships as a seed.
Just as a seed grows from a mere seed to a tree. The tree will only stop growing only when it dies. This fact can be seen in parallel to a healthy relationship.
Each individual is created differently just as no one shares the same finger print.Therefore, each relationship grows in different ways but it s great to know there are some principles that are consistently evident in most relationships.
Let's see what He says in a healthy growth in a relationship.
These are:-
G-Generosity
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2
I like this particular quotation :
Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away. By Elbert Hubbard
Some says, you can give without love, but you can't love without giving.
Having said this, - How does God loves us?
He gave His life for us.
John 3:16
He set a great example for us to love. Generosity is the essence of love.
R- Respect
Respect has great importance in any relationship. Respect means treating others with dignity.
God has created everyone with values. None of us is more valuable than others. Sadly, in the world that we are living in, respect is often given to those with status, fame and heritage.
In growing a great relationship, we need to start with where God intended it from the beginning.
In the beginng, God was so pleased with His creation, that is Adam, our forefather, that He said " it was good ". He started a great relationship with Adam because He sees him as one of valuable. Of course, Adam & Eve stuffed it up due to their mistrust of God 's word that causes the entire human race to fall short of the strong bond of relationship with God and each other.
Thanks goodness this is not the end as Christ has redeemed us from the Cross.He has not now left us as orphan but with His Spirit guiding us back to the fullness of relationship with Him and with each other.
In order to grow in respect, we have to see others as valuable creation of God.
When respect grows, relationship grows.
O- openness
We need to have an open hearted approach to people.
Openess makes relationship easier when we starts to open our life for others to see our perspective and open minded of any result that may comes along the way. This often does not guarantee any from any or both parties but the fruits of trust and security can be evident.
There is no perfect relationship but heart that is open grows trust that make any relationship grows.
A recent quote that I read so aptly describe this.
" The human heart, at whatever age, opens to the heart that opens in returns" Maria Edgeworth.
It is so profoundly demonstrated by David 's life style that grows his trust in God by his openness to God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Psalm 62:8
As a result of His openness, his trust grows that brought him closer to God each step of his journey in life. He is called by God as a man after His own heart. Dont you think this leaves us a strong clue to the key of intimacy.
W-willingness
Our heart needs to be willing to grow the relationship.
Will is the gift from God. Above all else, our willingness changes the cause of our heart and bring life to any relationship.
There is a famous saying, when there is a will, there is a way.
Willingness brings strength to any relationship. When anyone is willing, he or she will find ways to make it works. Some may take longer time than others but perseverance always pay off as long as love & goodness prevails.
Bible says
Do not give up in doing good and in due season you will reap what you sow.
T- Trust
Trust comes with vulnerabilities of being taken advantage of.
To trust is to believe someone honest and will not harm you.
Does trust guarantees being love? Quite often not but once trust grows, a relationship is strengthened.
Trust often comes with experience and time. Our experience often dictate the level of trust we can give to others. Unfortunately, bad experiences often blocks our hearts in trusting more and thus a great relationship.
But, I believe it is also come with a personal choice. I believe there is two level of trust. One is trusting people and put your trust on people. The former then to ease a relationship and the later a burden to one.
As we trust people, we tend to see them trustworthiness first that tend to grows with time as one sees the value of others first.
I believe burden can be shared with friends but not to expect them to take on my weights. Burden is shared with friends.
Proverbs says,
The blessings of God adds no sorrows in it.
Relationship is blessing from above. There will be ups and downs but it will not be a sorrowful one.
Trust is putting confidence on others and not weights.
In fact, I believe trusting others releases us to be who we are. When we can trust each other, we can grow as we should be and not what others expect of us. When this happens, I trust the dynamic of a relationship will be firmly planted in love thus grows naturally.
H- Hope
Why do we need hope to grow a relationship?
Hope is more than just a word. Dictionary says hope is to expect with confidence. Hope isnt always positive. But if we stay growing in the above areas in our relationship with others, we will have positive hope.
Hope is one of the manifestation of love and trust in any relationship.
Hope shelters hurts when all other fails. Hope keeps us trusting and loving. It works hand in hand with all of the above. It gives us courage to walk again when one fails.
Conclusion
Keep growing, we will run with joy even when we fall.
