As
a woman of a certain age, I grew up in a time when technology was in its
infancy… when a teenage girl’s dream was a pink princess phone in her bedroom
with her own telephone line. I
would talk to my friends for hours on the phone and when we weren’t on the
phone, we were hanging out together, in person, face-to-face. We didn’t watch much TV (black and
white of course) since we only got four channels and that was when the reception
with our bunny ears was good! We
invested ourselves and our time in relationships with others.
Don’t
get me wrong - I like my cell phone, computer and cable TV as much as the next
gal. But I have come to realize
that as my tech time has increased, I have become relationally lazy, not only
with family and friends, but with God as well. I have been thinking a lot about relationships lately and
what it means to me as a wife, mother, daughter and friend. I believe God has
placed this on my heart and has done so for a reason. It is to remind me that as a Christian, I am called to
believe in Him and be part of a community that belongs to Him. I am to be in meaningful relationship
with Him and those around me.
The
thing is, meaningful relationships can be messy and inconvenient, especially
with other humans. It is so much
easier to text than pick up the phone and talk. Or send an email instead of going out for coffee. And I wonder how many times I have missed
an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else because I just didn’t have time. The truth is, I make time for what I
want to make time for and not what God wants me to make time for. I have made my agenda more important
than His.
So,
I am challenging myself and challenging you to reach out to one person each
week in a way that will provide an opportunity to strengthen a relationship in
a personal way. This could be as
simple as a phone call to a friend, a walk with a neighbor or a hand written
note to encourage someone going through a difficult time. Or what about taking time to talk to someone
at church who is alone? God has
created us to be relational beings in need of acceptance and belonging. We need others as much as they need
us. I am looking forward to seeing
what God has planned for us!
“Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit. Rather,
in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests
but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:3-4
In Christ,
Susan
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