It's All About Relationships

" Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6;4-7

I love this passage of scripture. The principles mentioned in these few verses of scripture are the key principles that work in every relationship. How can we help others come to know and love God? I am glad you asked....

First of all - we have to love the Lord ourselves and have a great relationship with Him.

Then - according to this scripture - we are to take His word to heart - DAILY. If we are to lead others, we have to be close to Him.

And if we are to lead others, we can only so that if we have a close relationship with them too. We have to have a family like relationship with them.

We have to relate our life experiences to God's word as we share our life experiences with them so that they can come to know and love God if they sense His concern to the details of their lives.

Ladies, this passage has become so real to me since I left the public school system to teach in Christian Education. The whole reason I even entered the field of education was about relationships. With end of year testing pressure and the No Child Left Behind act, I felt as though the time that I should have been given to build and nurture relationships with parents was stolen from me. When I began teaching in a Christian school two years ago - that passion returned. I felt like a first year teacher all over again because the focus there was on- RELATIONSHIPS.

I was blessed this summer to run into a great friend that I once taught with - the Lord blessed us with an opportunity to reunite and continue to build a friendship that we shared several years earlier.I am just in awe of how God has worked to reconnect us in various ways. It just reminded me of how important our relationships with people are - it is how we witness.

Witnessing seems to be such a hard thing for so many. But it is really simple: Love God. Love on others around you. Talk to others about God as a friend as you live out your life daily. That kind of witnessing is more powerful than any sermon ever preached.

What do others see when they look at you? Are you helping others to know and love God?

In Him,

Kim