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Relationships RULE Part 1

The

of your life will be greatly determined by the of your relationships. In other words,
.

Our greatest

and our greatest are connected to relationships. Every relationship in your life is an or . If relationships RULE then what are the rules for relationships?

Ephesians 4:10-16 (NLT)
10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

, growing, and full of are the of a life-giving Church; they are also the for life-giving relationships. When we our relationships by these , we are able to what each relationship to be life-giving.

So, what does it mean for a relationship to be

? Here are three signs of :

The first sign of a healthy relationship is

. Despite what our culture tells us, is not the foundation stone of a healthy relationship. is.

Ephesians 1:12-13 (NLT)
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed (trusted) in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.

If I can’t

you, then our relationship is to shallow ground. I can you from a distance, but I be in a
relationship with you. Because an
person consistently the soul.

Proverbs 25:18-19 (NLT)
18 Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
19 Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.

The second sign of a healthy relationship is

. It’s the ability to be and not fear being .

Genesis 2:25 (NKJV)
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

creates a place to and what God has called us to be.

Matthew 23:25-28 (NLT)
25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy–full of greed and self-indulgence!
26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs–beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.
28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

The third sign of a healthy relationship is

. Authenticity covers our
; honor
our diversity. We are but not the .

Romans 13:7 (NKJV)
7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes [are due,] customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Proverbs 31:25 (NKJV)
25 Strength and honor [are] her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.

Honor

one another and places value upon the
. Honor allows the relationship to be
. You can’t from someone you don’t honor, and they can’t from you.

Matthew 13:57-58 (NLT)
57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.”
58 And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

A healthy relationship is built on

, protected through
, and thrives through . This
helps us discern what needs to be ,
, or from our lives.