Foundations/Relationships

Good relationships are always built on the foundation stones of identity and worship.  Even though these ideas may seem distant from our daily struggles, nothing can shelter our relationships from difficulty if we aren't building community on this foundation.  We often mistakenly think that our relationships are difficult because, like a child learning to walk, we simply lack skills and experience not to fall.  This may be true in part, but the greater problem is the foundation we are walking on.  For our relationships to be what God designed them to be, the rebuilding, restoring, and reconciling must start with a solid new foundation.

This foundation is not what we do and say.  It begins in the heart, the source of the thoughts and motives that shape what we do and say.  Your heart is always with you, an din profound ways it shapes your interactions with others.  If our heart's foundation is solid, based on God's truth, design, and purpose for us, we will be able to build healthy, God-honoring relationships even though we are flawed people living in a broken world.  By contrast, broken community is always the result of broken foundations.  Timothy S. Lane & Paul David Tripp (Heart of the matter)

Relationships are difficult at times.  I have a few friendships that I have been really sad with lately. But there is hope and then there are the words above.  I'm not going to give up, I'm going to evaluate my heart's foundation and ask the Lord to help me where I need help and to guide me where I need to go to build a better friendship.