Love God. Love others.
--Deuteronomy 6:4-9
God desires us to be in relation with one another. We were created to be relational beings, modeled after God. In Genesis 1, the creation story refers to "us" and "our." My perspective is that The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all were there at creation. The whole Trinity. From the beginning we were created "in Our image in Our likeness" (italics mine, Genesis 1:26). Therefore, God was not alone even at the beginning. There was the trinity.
Throughout the Scripture, over and over again community and fellowship is emphasized. Specifically, this is seen in the early church. Acts 2:42-47:
They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
I notice something really cool about relationships. Maybe this is just my own observation, but perhaps it carries over to others, too.
A great friend and I were talking a couple weeks ago and catching up. Now, we haven't hung out in almost a year, maybe longer, yet we picked up right where we left off. It was as if no time had passed and we were as close as we ever had been. We discussed how this was possible. We came up with a solution: Jesus.
God creates us to be in relationships with others. When he is the backbone of those relationships, our friendships connect on deeper levels. Not only can we talk about life, but we automatically have a connection that normal friendships do not have. The Holy Spirit. I have found this not only as completely divine and awesome, but slightly saddening.
I always wonder why my non-Christian friends and I never seem to connect deeply. Sure, there is friendship, but it just seems incomplete. This is why. God needs to be the center of ALL relationships, not just intimate, marriage-type relationships. When God is the center, he is able to work through us and be expressed through us. I find this so true. The few friends I have that are Christians, I have the closest, most intimate connections with. They are the kind of relationships where we can pick right back up where we last left off no matter how long it has been.
It makes me a little frustrated that I don't seek those God honoring friendships more often. Yet, it is really cool that I do have those relationships where God exists.
God is really cool. Just thought you should know.
