Relationships Gone Right

“No man is an island, no man stands alone, each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend, each man as my brother, each man as my friend”. Absolutely everything that occurs in our lives, be it good or bad, is constructed within the confines of relationships. Take a minute to think about this. Your greatest achievements, even your failures, were hinged on the intersection of one or more relational dynamics; the ever present dynamic that involves you with yourself and you with at least one other person. Whether the relationships were surficial and in passing, or they were deep and intimate, you could not and did not arrive at your current location and disposition without their influence.

This absolute is by design, starting with the Master Designer Himself at the Genesis of life. With all hands on deck, the triune God comprising, God the Father, God the Word and God The Holy Spirit, took a planet that was dark, without form, empty, and chaotic and brought light, substance, order, and creation to it. God expressed His thoughts, what He envisioned for Earth through the spoken Word and the Holy Spirit immediately moved upon that Word. The Master Designer has always used the relationship of the Triune to drive His purposes in the universe and He has and continues to use His partnership with mankind to facilitate His will in the earth. Every time we pray “Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven…”, He leverages the relationship He has with us, as we leverage the relationship we have with Him to make things happen.There is extensive talk concerning relationships gone wrong; marriages falling apart, families imploding, BFFS splitting, pastors failing their congregants, politicians defrauding their constituents, and the list goes on and on. But what about the relationships that do go right?

Relationship is everything. If you think for one minute you can survive this thing called life without the input of others, you are either delusional or embittered. The most fundamental relationship you will ever engage in is the one you have with the person who returns your stare in the mirror. Are you happy with this person? Do you love this person unconditionally? Do you respect this person? Do you trust this person? Do you value this person? Is your relationship with this person healthy, balanced, held in high esteem?

The quality of your relationship with yourself, whether healthy or poor, will serve as an indicator of the quality of the relationships you will hold with others. After all, it is impossible to love others or treat others with kindness, respect and esteem if you’ve failed practicing it with your mirror-image. This is the starting point for all of the relationships you will ever engage in over the course of your life. Here’s why your intra-personal relationship is critical to your overall well being and success. At the end of the day, it is your thoughts about yourself and the conversations that you have with yourself that will ultimately shape your life. Your relationship with yourself will determine the kind of inter-personal relationships you foster with others; hence the quality of the people you will naturally gravitate to. And it is within the construct of those external relationships that your destiny will be shaped.

In Chapters 14 and 15 in our manual for living, an account is given concerning the children of Israel as they journeyed towards the promise land. As they arrived at the border of Canaan, twelve spies were sent to scope out the land and to bring back a report to the nation. Upon their return, they reported that the land was exactly as God said it would be, but ten of the twelve spies proceeded to bring up an evil report, by adding that they were giants in the land (true) who were more powerful than they were and that in their own eyes, they felt like grasshoppers and that the inhabitants of the land viewed them in the same way. It did not matter that God had made a promise that He would bring them in. The only thing that mattered was how they thought and how they felt about themselves. The report was received by the people and consequently, the ten spies, along with all the people over twenty died in the wilderness after wandering for another forty (40 years), because of their unbelief. Their destinies were short-circuited. The remaining two spies, Joshua and Caleb, believed God and were confident in themselves that they could possess the land. They did, forty years later.

Throughout my time in this country, the success of every step of my journey was defined by relationships along the way. There were acquaintances and friends whose influence in my life triggered a series of critical decisions that proved to be destiny enforcers. The kindness extended to me by others throughout the years sustained me while in school, which by the way was tough, and in the early days of trying to get on my feet. Many of those relationships have since ended, but have been replaced with new relationships, ones that have and continue to work to propel me into the discovery and execution of my purpose. Of the relationships that have impacted me the most, none has been more meaningful and endearing than the one that I have with my Master Designer. He has worked over and over and over again to orchestrate the times and seasons of my life and He’s never skipped a beat. Everything in my life came about by virtue of a relationship. Even the painful processing I had to endure to arrive at this point in my life, where my character has been significantly refined, took place within the framework of a relationship.

Couple of questions for you. Can you identify those key relationships that you have and do you understand and appreciate the value they bring to your life? What value are you bringing to the lives of others? Are you the person worth having a relationship with? Are you helping to facilitate the destinies of others? How do you view yourself and what do you need to do differently to strengthen your own relationship with yourself as well as with others? Most importantly and in the grand scheme of things, where and how is your relationship with God, your Master Manufacturer? Is it up to par or can it be refined and further developed? Are you satisfied that you are giving your best to Him as He is giving to you? Are you committed to working at making the relationship stronger?

Your ability to foster the kinds of relationships that go right begins with you. As long as you are alive you will always need others and others will need you. Be known for the quality of relationships that you foster. You never know what doors might swing wide open for you simply on the basis of a relationship.

Visit the Podcast Series tab or the Podbean Podcast page to access the associate podcast segment entitle: “Relationships Gone Right”.