This post was written by Em Rohrer, a local blogger whose original post can be found at http://emrohrer.blogspot.comI've been reading Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson as a devotional-type resource for the past few months and I'm coming down the home stretch. I'm a little disappointed to be finishing it, but it's been a great read and I'm also looking forward to starting something new.
I read chapter 9 yesterday and it's entire focus was on enriching your relationships. What really jumped out at me was the importance placed on trust in any relationship and how it directly feeds love.
The more we trust in God's love, the more it will change our hearts and lives. Not trusting God's love doesn't make it any less true, it simply makes it untrue for us. It keeps us locked away from the freedom we have in God's embrace.
1 John 4:18a says it well - "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear."
The author closes the chapter by saying, We are never more like God than when we choose to forgive others. Relationships give us our greatest opportunity to model the gospel.
Forgiveness, trust and love - they all go hand-in-hand feeding healthy relationships. You really can't have one of those attributes and not the others while expecting to have a successful and fulfilling relationship with God or anyone else.
The challenge for me, often times, is balancing all three aspects. Forgiveness doesn't come easy to me, which also feeds into a difficulty to trust. But I always know Who I can always place my trust in, the One who will never let me down. That alone helps refocus my relationships with others.
How do you balance the need for trust, forgiveness and love in your relationships?
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