Relationships 101Sýnishorn

It starts in the mirror

The amount of people that are looking for friends is enormous. Most of us can list how those around us could be better friends. But the work actually begins in the mirror, not with those around us. I remember talking to my sister when she went to college. It was a big move, far from all her friends, and she wanted/needed new friends. She wanted others to befriend her. I shared with her a Proverb she didn’t want to hear at the time. Proverb 18:24 NKJV - 24 A man [who has] friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend [who] sticks closer than a brother.

Good friendship starts when we choose to be a good friend. We live in such a consumer-based world that we can expect life to cater to us. But the greatest enemy of a relationship is selfishness. The world without Jesus tries to find fulfillment in getting others to serve them. But Jesus tells us that we should live differently. (Luke 22:25-26; Matthew 20:25-28). We should live to serve just as He did. Jesus described His followers as being marked by how they love one another. If we start with God’s love flowing in us, it will change how we do relationships. As Jesus and the disciples walked into what we now call the Last Supper, no one wanted to be the one to serve the others and wash their feet. That was a gross and lowly task. Luke records that that night, the disciples had an argument over which of them was the greatest. They saw the need that someone else should fulfill. But no one wanted to be the one to serve. Until Jesus, knowing who He was and where He was going, stood up and served. Many of us are like the disciples, all looking around for someone else to serve when Jesus called us to follow His lead, to love and serve those around us. As we have been looking at relationships, who can you serve? Where can the love of Jesus mark you?