Many of us have relationships with people around us. These relationships take on many forms, and many degrees of sharing and levels of intimacy. There are things we only share with our wives that we don’t share with our co-workers for instance. And lately I have been thinking about relationships and what they offer to us. I don’t know about you but I have been one who spent little time working on relationships, and a lot of time on my to-do list.
Most of us men at least seem to be task motivated. At least the ones I have met and talked with. And some women are as well. Others seem to focus their lives on the relationships they are building as they go about their tasks. This is something women seem to do naturally. At least more naturally then men. But we all need to have relationships. God said “It is not good for man to be alone.” in Genesis in the bible. And it applies to women as well. Loneliness is a burden that is extremely difficult to carry, and one that drives many to suicide.
We need each other. We need each other to grow. We need each other to develop our character. We need each other to change. We need each other to lighten the load we all carry each day. We were all built for relationship. It is the reason we were created. God designed us for relationship. If we avoid them we do so to our own detriment. I know I have in the past. Life can hit us pretty hard at times, and if those hits are coming mostly from people we should be able to trust we can tend to have a bleak view of relationships in general. But it is something we can overcome. I know I am growing further away from it each day. But I have surrounded myself with people who genuinely care about me, and have no need whatsoever to change me. It is how I came to be who I am today.
We are empowered by the relationships we have. As long as they are healthy that is. Because relationships can destroy as well. But with good relationships we become more that we could ever be on our own. We can stand taller, and climb to greater heights and see broader vistas than we can ever hope to alone. Having people behind us who can encourage us through the difficulties, and challenge us to not accept the status quo in our lives, and speak into the blind spots in our lives and character enables and empowers us to go beyond ourselves. There is a saying ‘Behind every great man is a great woman.’ And it is true. I’m not saying I am a great man, but I married a great woman who is supporting and challenging me. And as I continue to develop and grow personally, I know it will only be with her support and wisdom, and the other relationships I have around me, the most important one being with Jesus, I will become, to borrow a slogan, ‘All I can be.’
The Blog of Tom Sanders 