By Guest Writer, Grace
Sibling relationships can be one of the most difficult things for us to be Christ-like in while living our everyday lives. After all, even in the Proverbs it says, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (17:17) :-) It is so much easier to be pleasant and God-honoring when we are with friends than when we are with our siblings day in and day out. Of course, I may be miss-using this passage just a bit, but it seems to be used in this way quite often.
I find that if we really look, we can find a multitude of articles and books that address the issue of proper relationships between siblings, and some of them have a lot of practical and helpful information. But when we really dig down to the heart of the issue, we find that most of the time it is missed altogether in these how-to writings.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God
How often do we need to be reminded that if we work on having our relationship with God where it needs to be, He will work through us and help us in every area of our lives?
The number one focus for each and every one of us as believers is to tune our hearts and lives to the One who gave us life. Our Creator is more than worthy to be first in every aspect of our lives, and this includes relationships.
A very important factor in our relationship with God is to establish exactly what we believe about Him, or how much we believe in Him. If asked, I’m sure we would hasten to assure the questioner that we believe in God with all our hearts! This may be so in our hearts and minds, when we are alone, and in the quiet of our devotions, but what about in our everyday lives?
For many, believing in God is deciding that they are going to believe in this invisible Creator, whether or not they feel He is real. This is what most people call faith. But if we are truly striving for a live of intimacy with Christ, this will not be enough. We not only have to choose to believe, but act on it.
“Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth?” (Psalm 113:5-6)
We must realize that God is an actual, real being and that He is not somewhere in heaven or the sky looking down at us every once in a while to see if we are following Him, but that He is RIGHT HERE. He stays close beside us every moment of every day, taking deep interest in our interests, sorrows with us in our sorrows, smiles with love and pleasure when we serve others, and many times stands by in sad disappointment when we chose to disobey Him.
Once we realize this, we will find that this knowledge affects every action and decision we make. Thus we see how a heart in close unity with God will spread to our response and reactions to those around us.
Just as God’s love no depth knows,
His love our hearts will overflow.
Whence can it flow? Out of our lives.
With those around we’ll harmonize.
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22)
As this verse plainly states, if we keep the eyes of our hearts focused singly on Christ, our whole life will reflect the light of His presence. How awesome!
Come back for Part 2 on Monday.
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