Are you able to relate?
It’s something we’re faced with every day: whether to relate or not relate to the countless people in our circles. From the time we’re born, relationships are constantly shaping who we are and how we react to the world around us.
We are all looking to have healthier, more meaningful relationships, so where do we start? Our ability to relate to others begins with our ability to receive what God has given and is giving us. We have to be able to receive what God has for us before trying to have a meaningful relationship with ourselves and with those around us.
Key Takeaway
You are so completely loved by almighty God, and when you receive that, you will be able to meaningfully love the people around you.
We all want help making our relationships richer, meaningful, and more helpful. Relationships are tricky, and a lot of times, they are messy. Louie Giglio shared with us a few of the flaws that can sneak their way into the way we relate to the people around us:
- We expect more of other people than they can be in, or give to, our lives.
- We hold other people to a higher standard than we want to be held to by God.
Louie Giglio didn't just leave us with the challenges, though. He gave us three questions to ask ourselves in order to help us keep the Gospel at the center of our relationships:
- Can Jesus relate to you?
- How does Jesus relate to you?
- How does this impact the way I relate to others?
Let's take these one at a time.
Can Jesus relate to you? Yes!
Jesus entered time and space. Jesus exists outside of time and space. From eternity past to eternity future, Jesus has always been Jesus. He created a universe that has time and space and then he entered into it. He gave up the freedom of being outside of it and took on the constraints of being it.
He took on flesh and blood. He was born into our world. Not only did Jesus come to accomplish his salvation mission, but he lived life and can completely relate to you. See Heb 4:14-16. He was tempted in every way. Whatever you want to do, He wanted to do. He had to learn patience. He had to wait 33 years for His mission to be fulfilled. He was misunderstood, tired, frustrated, had His motives questioned, alone, attracted, mistrusted, single, abandoned, betrayed, abused, and applauded. Nothing is unknown to Him. He can relate to you.
How does Jesus relate to us? How about this...
- He does not give us what we deserve. Ps 103:8-14
- He meets us more than halfway. He came all the way down to earth, not just halfway.
- He is merciful when we are wrong.
- He's gracious when we are stubborn.
- He loved us before we were able to love him. Rom 5:8
Praise God
So how does this impact how we relate to others?
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
If we know God, we must love another. This is who God is, and when we come into a relationship with him, we are compelled and have the capacity to love one another.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10
God dispenses grace, kindness, love, and mercy with a shovel. He pours it on. It's unending. And we offer others a spoonful. We will celebrate the shovel, but dispense the spoon because we're flawed in our thinking. We tend to expect more from and treat others differently than we want God to treat us. If we can't hand out a shovel, it's because we never fully received the shovel. What we dispense is a reflection of what we have received. Shovel receivers are shovel dispensers to the world.
Why don't we receive it?
Mostly because we have some voice that tells us that we're not worthy of the shovel of grace, kindness, and forgiveness.
Is that true? No. Whoever told you that is not God. You're believing someone else other than God. In the kindest way possible, we have to get over ourselves. It's false humility with a root of pride. We are saying to God, "What I think about me is greater than what You think about me."
Take the shovel you have been given and crush the enemy with it. Recognize that no one else's opinion is greater than God's.
Discussion Questions
What are the most important relationships that you have in your life?
Are you the type of person that makes relationships work and people actually want to be in a relationship with you?
How willing are you to receive what God has for you? Why does that matter when it comes to relationships?
Do you expect more out of others than what people can give? Do you hold them to a higher standard that you want God to hold you to?
If you had to describe yourself in 12 words or less, what would you say? If we are all so different from each other, how can Jesus relate to each of us?
Read Hebrews 4:14-16. What does it tell us about what Jesus faced? Thinking about His life and yours, what are the things you've experienced that He did as well?
How does Jesus relate to you? Louie Giglio gave many examples. Recall those to mind and see Psalm 103:8-14 and Romans 5:8.
What does 1 John 4:7-10 say about how we relate to others? What does the "so" do to the sentence?
Louie Giglio was making a major point with the shovel and the spoon. What do those represent?
If you have not received the shovel of grace, mercy, and forgiveness, why is that? What might you need to do?
Scripture References
