Shape Of Your Heart: Discover The Building Blocks Of Great RelationshipsSample

Breaking Bad

The relationships we have can propel us toward our future or keep us chained to our past. That’s why it’s so important we approach all of our relationships wisely. When you surround yourself with the wrong people it impacts your thinking, your behavior, and your attitude in a negative way. Right relationships will encourage you, strengthen you and make you more like Christ.

Sometimes we have relationships in our lives that take more than they give. They might not take from us physically, but they drain us emotionally through, negativity, control, temptation and fear. So how do we deal with the relationships that aren’t helping us? While we can’t choose every relationship we have, we can choose to not let bad company have our ear, our mind and ultimately our heart.

We can reduce the impact of negative relationships and still be an example of Christ to them if we do a few specific things. First we need to make sure that we are spiritually and emotionally healthy.  If you don’t take care of yourself first, you won’t be able to help others. Just like when flying on a plane; in the event of an emergency you place the oxygen mask that drops from your cabin on yourself first before helping anyone else. In the same way we need to make sure that we are spiritually and emotionally secure before we can reach out to help others.

The second thing we need to do is love freely while also standing firm. You don’t have to limit your love for them, but you can limit their access to you. That’s what Jesus did. He loved freely but not everyone had unlimited access to Him personally. He fed the multitudes, He taught the crowds, He commissioned seventy for ministry, He discipled twelve and even within that group He had three (Peter, James and John) that He gave special revelation. Having firm boundaries doesn’t mean you don’t care about people, it means you care about the right relationships God has given you to make sure the people who need you get your best.

Questions for reflection.

Are there some areas in your life you need to help yourself before you can be a help to others? Are there some relationships in your life you need to give limited access?