January 23

Everywhere I turn in this new year, the word relationship seems to pop up. The magazine headline at the grocery wants to know what kind of relationship I have with my husband. The television news anchor talks about France’s struggles to be in relationship with its Muslim population. Amazon boasts an endless array of self-help books with relationship in the title.

At home, my daughter works to do all the right things to build a loving relationship with her young son who, in turn, is learning the skills to be in peaceful relationship with his peers at daycare. Personally, I struggle to find common ground in my relationship with a new neighbor who is pushing the boundaries of our property lines in his desire to expand his home.

According to Merriam-Webster.com, relationship is the way in which two or more people or things are connected. But, relationship struggles seem to be everywhere. We know that God loves us and created us to be in relationship with Him through our love and faith. He wants us to open our hearts to Him and to trust Him to get us through each day. It is our connection with Him that forms the foundation for all of our other relationships.

If we connect more strongly with God and then bring Him into our other relationships, wouldn’t they be stronger, too?

The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3