This week’s devotions are based on Week 9 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Have you noticed a theme in all the discussions about relationships and how a Christian is to engage in them? Marriage…parenting…employment? Perhaps as we engage in these relationships, we know that each one of them can be great or horrible depending on the day. Our marriage can be super one day and on the rocks the next. Our relationship with our children can be great one day and worst enemies the next. One Monday morning at work can set a tone for a great week or one interaction can leave you wishing for the weekend.
Relationships are challenging (Next week we will see the spiritual battle that often ensues in our relationships). But do we need hundreds of books to help us sort out the complexity of relationships? Maybe some are helpful, but let me end the week with a simple acronym that maybe many of you have heard before…but let’s apply it to relationships:
J.O.Y.
Jesus
Others
Yourself
All of the relationships we’ve looked at this week start with one premise: I won’t understand the earthly relationship until I understand my relationship with Jesus. The fact of grace that God, in his love, connected you to Christ by faith is the most profound relationship that any human being can experience. In the context of that relationship, I grow to realize how much God loves me, how much he sacrificed for me, how much he desires to grow me, and how in love he leads me. Every other relationship stems first from our relationship with Jesus, or better said, his relationship with us.
The Apostle John said, “We love because he first loved us.” How true is that! How can I love my wife as Christ loved the Church if I have no connection to the love of Christ? How can a wife submit to her husband when she is not part of the Church? How can I parent my child to walk in the ways and word of the Lord if I myself am not hearing from my Savior in his word. How can I work with all my abilities if I first don’t understand who gave me those abilities or how can I lead in the work place if I first don’t recognize the leadership of Christ in my own life.
Only with Jesus first can I be a blessing to Others.
Paul says in Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” The ability to yield my will to another only comes when I do it to glorify Christ, not myself. My natural inclination in relationships is to get as much as I can for myself out of them. Not so for the CHristian. The blessing of relationships is to realize they are gifts from God and opportunities for me to glorify my Savior who brought me into relationship with him.
But the amazing thing is Jesus does not leave us personally without blessing and benefit from godly relationships. As you’ve been able to honor Christ in your marriage, is it not true that you have been blessed by that? Do you not enjoy the peace, the mutual service, the support and love that your spouse gives as they reciprocate the love Christ has shown to them? Is not parenting more of a reward when you see the Spirit of God work in the lives of your children because you have taken time to train them in the ways of the Lord. Does not work become more of a blessing for you when you spend your day first and foremost serving the Lord?
When God designs something it is not to cause chaos and heartache, but rather to give us peace and joy in the relationships into which he has placed us. So as you head through your day and into the days ahead, approach every relationship with J.O.Y. – Jesus first…then Others…then yourself.
Apply: What is one thing you can do in your relationships to better model JOY in them?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for putting me first in your life of sacrifice and love. Lead me in all my relationships simply to model the love you shown me. AMEN.