Healthy Relationships Over Time
Wednesday April 18, 2018
As long as we are trapped in a destructive lifestyle of addiction we are unable to sustain healthy friendships. One of the gifts of our new life with God in recovery is learning how to share ourselves with others and develop meaningful relationships. Jesus was a good friend to twelve men who became His disciples and He served and taught them well. Jesus also received friendship from these men in return.
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. (John 15:12-15 NLT)
What are some characteristics of being in a healthy relationship? Friends trust and rely on each other. They may not always agree but they respect one another's differences. Friends are kind and understanding towards one another. They stand together in times of trouble even when others can't or won't stand with them. Friends celebrate the good times and encourage each other during the bad times. They tell each other the truth -- the truth they like to hear as well as the truth they don’t want to hear but need to.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend. (Proverbs 17:17, Job 16:20-21 NIV)
The bottom line of all healthy relationships is that we help each other know and serve God well. Those who fail to examine themselves in light of God’s word, and the advice of good friends, often end up enslaved by their destructive habits and dependencies.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you created me to live in loving relationship with You and with others. Help me to tear down the walls I have built to keep You and others out. Give me the will and desire to live in the light of Your love as I share in respectful relationships where each person cares for the other. Amen
©2018 Partners in Hope
More information on this and other related topics @ http://www.partnersinhope.ca/life-with-god-in-recovery-resources/
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