Relationship part 3
True relationship--direct relationship--is about trust. If you can't trust someone, you can't do anything with them. That's why, as we say yesterday, it is faith in Christ that puts us in right relationship with God. Trusting in love is what allows us to live a life of love. Knowing and believing that God is love and He loves you (the ultimate truth of the universe) is what equips and empowers us to be able to love each other. To be able to trust each other. To be able to be in relationship with each other. And I, personally, put a premium on honesty. I tell my kid all the time, "If you never lie to me, I will always believe you." But the flip side of that, unfortunately, is that once you've been lied to its really hard to trust. Its really hard to trust the person who lied to you... and its really hard to trust in general. Because once we've been burned, its our instinct to stay away from the fire. That's why guarding, or keeping, your heart is so important. Out of the heart flows the issues (issue... love) of life. We live out of our hearts. What's in our hearts--or what we believe is in our hearts--is what comes out. Because no matter what it is--joy, bitterness, hurt, faith, distrust--its too big to keep inside. That's why when we try to bottle things up they always end up exploding. That's not healthy. Its no good. But when you find someone you CAN trust... that's when things get really good. I always liked "buddy cop" movies. That idea of two people standing back to back and meeting the challenge of all comers. "You and me against the world." Being able to trust someone implicitly. That's gold, man. I'm telling you. So if you do find yourself blessed enough to have that... use it but don't abuse it. I might have mentioned this a couple of days ago but I think it fits right here. I saw a quote that said something along the lines of, "Love is finding someone who will love you for no reason... and then showering them with reasons." Because we don't love people in order to get them to love us. But by giving someone who DOES love us reasons TO love us... we're not really being selfish at all. We're showering them with affection. Showing them that we don't take them for granted. Showing them that we appreciate them. I can't tell you how important a "thank you" is sometimes. A "good job." A pat on the back. And, again, we don't do what we do in order to try to get that. But it means so much when we do get it. I gave my kid's teacher a thank you card yesterday. And she thanked me for it and said, "I'm just doing my job." But she doesn't "just" do her job. She goes above and beyond. And I felt like it was important that she was recognized for that. I trust her with my kid. And that's not something I take lightly. Relationship. Trust. Letting people know how important they are. Letting them know that you've got their back. And then actually having it. Its a true and rare and glorious thing. So like I said, don't abuse that trust. Don't let anything mess up that relationship. Be honest. Communicate. Keep your heart by keeping it open. Open to love. Let people love you. And love people for no other reason than having the love in your heart to love them with. Let what's inside come out. By knowing and believing that its in there!