We are all fighting for something. We all have something we are passionate about. Well I want to talk to you about what I am passionate about, what I strive to fight for, and that is…..relationships. When I say relationships, I am not referring to the romantic relationships we see in movies. I mean ALL relationships. Relationships between friends, family, coworkers, church family, and most importantly God. Now a days there are so many relationships being broken and abandoned due to conflict, or “it was just too hard”. Well I want to let you know something, relationships are hard, but they are worth it.
God did not intend us to do life alone. In Hebrews 10:24-25 he tells us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We need to be intentional in all of our relationships. Coming together as believers, encouraging, building each other up, and loving on one another is what God calls us to.
Your relationship with God is the foundation for all of your other relationships to bloom and flourish. So first, be intentional with spending time with God everyday. You will see a huge difference in how you approach other relationships just by pressing into your relationship with Him. It is when you are not having that quiet time with Him that you will see your other relationships suffer.
Let me give you example of relationships/community. When you look at an army, you always have the general behind the scenes laying out the plan of attack. He rallies his men together and tells them to fight as one body, to execute the plan together. Your fellow soldiers have your back, they look out for you just as you look out for them. So if you all get out on the battlefield and you start seeing soldiers, one by one, go off on their own, and separating from their unit, from the ones that have got their back, they are more then likely to be killed by the enemy. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
When you don’t fight for your relationships, and you allow the devil to get a foothold, he will do what he can to destroy those relationships. You see love isn’t a feeling, love is a choice. Matthew 22: 37-40 says “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” Quitting should never be in our vocabulary. We need to fight for our relationships. The Godhead…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is in perfect community together and that is the image we should compare our relationships too.
I know that right now with the election going on in our nation, everybody is on edge, and lashing out at each other. Gods love isn’t really present amongst the people of America right now. Trust me, I know that it is very controversial, not because I keep up with it a lot, but because almost everyone I have encountered here in Africa has asked me about it and where I stand on it. Listen, who leads our nation is important to some extent, but let us not forget the very One our nation was founded on, the One who is still in control, and that my friends is the one true King, Jesus Christ.
He says this in His word, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14. So let us stop looking to and depending on a man/woman who is in the flesh and flawed to make our nation a better place. Instead, let us fight for our nation on our knees, taking our fight to the real enemy, not fighting with but FOR each other, let us come together as one nation UNDER GOD! The devil wants division because he knows that if God’s people were to turn our hearts back to Him and come together in unity, well let’s just say this world would be TRULY changed, and Gods Kingdom would come and be fully present here on earth.
If we could just start fighting for each other through prayer, being intentional in love towards one another, then Gods love would flood this earth, and lives would be forever changed. Marriages would heal, kids would honor their parents, relationships would be restored, families would come back together, church’s would grow, judgement would turn to grace, racism would end, hatred would have no place in our hearts because Gods love would wash it out.
So what are you fighting for? Are you fighting for what you want or are you fighting for what God wants? Because what you fight for the most is what is the most important to you.
