Nurturing Relationships
I did my residency in Family Medicine many years ago. I think the thing that drew me to the specialty was that a family doctor gets to build long-term relationships with their patients. I’ve enjoyed being “my doctor” to thousands of men, women, and children of all ages.
Relationships are a basic human need. At the very beginning, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 1:18). Positive, intimate relationships are a great blessing. They are not always easy to achieve. As an example, people who grew up in dysfunctional families often have problems because they never experienced healthy, affirming relationships.
We should nurture the positive relationships in our lives, making an effort to maintain and strengthen them. How can we build up our relationships? Jesus gave us a basic rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule is, on the one hand, so simple, but on the other, so deep in its implications and application. How do we live it out? Paul gave the Colossians some instructions.
“Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14)
We are called to be compassionate, caring for those who are hurting, bringing comfort and help. We should be kind-hearted, putting the needs of others above our own, humbly serving all those we come in contact with. This doesn’t mean that we should be doormats, letting people step all over us. That isn’t being kind-hearted, because our acquiescence allows the other person to continue in their bad behavior.
We are all sinners – none of us is perfect. Since God has forgiven us, we should forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). When we forgive others, we allow ourselves to be healed of the wounds and bitterness that we carry.
We need to bring the love of God to everyone we meet. We all know people who radiate God’s love to such a degree that it is immediately obvious to those they come in contact with. They are an example for us of how to live out our Christian faith. Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
We can certainly add other qualities needed to form good relationships. We should be trustworthy, people who can always be counted on. We should communicate freely. Communication to a relationship is like water to a plant, which shrivels up in its absence.
We will never become the person we want by our own power. We should ask the Spirit to help us grow to become that person.
I’ve read the list below in a few places – I’m not sure who to attribute it to. It gives some practical hints for nurturing relationships.
2. Make promises sparingly and keep them faithfully.
3. Never miss an opportunity to compliment or say something encouraging.
4. Refuse to talk negatively about others and don’t listen when others do.
5. Have a forgiving view of people. Believe that most people are doing the best they can.
6. Keep an open mind; discuss, don’t argue.
7. Forget about counting to 10. Count to 1,000 before saying or doing anything that could make matters worse.
8. Let your virtues speak for themselves.
9. If someone criticizes you, see if there is any truth to what he is saying; if so, make changes.
10. Cultivate your sense of humor.
The individual posts in this blog have been
collected into a book, Reflections From the Basic Truths Blog. It is available for free as an ebook through
Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflections-from-the-basic-truths-blog-james-yarmchuk/1147055811?ean=2940181202702,
Apple Books, and multiple other book websites. It is available for a minimal
charge on Amazon and can also be purchased as a paperback through them.
Comments
Post a Comment