Today MattersSample

Relationships Matter

There is no such thing as a self-made person.

While an individual’s hard work, smart choices, and commitment to growth are all under their own control, there’s relatively few things that can be truly achieved alone. Almost everything significant in human history has been achieved by teams of people.

That means relationships are an essential part of life. And we need to treat them that way.

For many of us, the essential nature and value of relationships is obvious. But for some, the myth of rugged individuality persists.

There’s only one problem: most of life’s great moments involve other people.

Think of a time in your life when you achieved something truly great. Weren’t there other people involved? Didn’t someone help you push across the finish line for that goal? For most of us, other people are a significant part of the story of success.

Even when we go through something alone, one of our first instincts is to share that moment with someone else! We need other people in order to be at our best.

Realizing that we need people is the first step towards strengthening our relationships. The second step comes when we value other people as people—not as means to an end. Too often, people use or abuse their relationships simply because they don’t value others properly.

Everyone we meet has intrinsic value, a worth that goes beyond how they impact our life. When we keep that value in mind—when we see them as someone with a purpose and a future—we are more inclined to invest in them and seek ways to help them. That willingness to add value creates a “virtuous circle” where that person becomes inclined to add value in response.

There are plenty of temptations to neglect or manipulate our relationships, but we must stand strong against them. We are made better when we are surrounded by others—we’re sharpened by the tension of togetherness.

Every day, we are presented with the choice to add value to others or extract value from them. As the Bible says, what we sow, we reap—so choosing to add value to others will not only make them better, it will make us better as well.