091607

September 16, 2007

God's Path to Right Relationships

by Shana Schutte

Have you ever met someone like Becky? She isn't confident of who she is in Christ. She doesn't believe that she's precious, forgiven, beloved, adopted, chosen and lavished with God's grace. As a result, she consistently acts out this insecurity by choosing to maintain relationships with unsafe people.

In his book, Reflections for Ragamuffins, Brennan Manning says that if we don't know who we are [in Christ] we can't tell anyone else who we are either. I agree. Not only will we be unable to tell others who we are, but we will be unable to show who we are by exercising relational balance and saying "no" to another when needed. We can also become entangled in relationships which we become victim to mistreatment by someone lording over us, or we can attempt to rule over another through control or manipulation. In short, we can become master or slave, depending upon what kind of fear drives us.

Because Christ knew who He was and who He belonged to, He exercised relational balance. Therefore, He was neither overly harsh on those who needed an extra dose of compassion, or too soft on those who needed a harder message. He was never ruled by fear; only God's love ruled Him.

When we believe what God says is true of us, fear about what we are not disappears in the light of His love, and we experience the kind of relationships He intended. As I heard one minister say, "When you know you are beloved, everything changes."

If you feel discouraged today because you need to know in greater measure who you are in Christ, hang tight with Him! He wants that for you more than you want it for yourself.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV)

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