Rock-Solid Relationships

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

Okay, sometimes our relationships aren’t perfect. We’re definitely not just talking about that guy/girl you like, your parents, or your friends or class/work-friends. We’re talking about anyone who has an influence in your life. What can we do to build good relationships: how can we be sure others can confidently build trust and ‘do life’ with us?

A clash of personalities or testing circumstances can seem to put real strain on them. Although we’re talking about a broad range of people you know today, we think Jesus covered a lot of ground with the ‘Beatitudes’ (Matthew 5) – it’s the key to blessed relationships. How about 4 main points?

-Be humble. Self-promoting and always demanding your rights brings misery, while humility, self-denial and considering others’ needs brings happiness. -Be meek (restraining your power). Maybe hold back those harsh words that might even contain a bit of truth? -Be merciful. You know when you’ve been hurt and left out? Don’t seek revenge for that. Instead, contribute to an atmosphere of forgiveness. -Be a peacemaker. During the week, if you’re brilliantly genius ideas get ignored, don’t sweat. The ability to let go of our pride and not ‘win’ approval decreases the chance of conflict. Jesus was pretty good at that sort of stuff, being God and all. There’s definitely some stuff we can apply here to make the most of our time with others. And when (not “if”) you fail, know and believe that Jesus was humble, meek, merciful, and a peacemaker, for the whole world—including you!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Help me to demonstrate the qualities of humbleness, meekness, being merciful, and being a peacemaker in my life. Thank You for being that for me—for loving me, for forgiving me, for empowering me to begin to demonstrate those qualities. Amen