NOG - p. 76.
"Because relationships are so necessary - as I believe God created them to be - the line can get awful fuzzy between codependent and healthy, deep friendships."
Philippians 1:9-10
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ" (NKJV)
How can these two Scriptures become a huge help to us in finding the balance between loving people and idolizing them?
Beth writes:
"We shared some examples from our personal lives of idolatrous relationships that, with God’s intervention, actually transitioned into healthy relationships. These transitions are often rare because the relationship was fed by the idolatry and often can’t exist without it."
Have any of you experienced one of those wonderful occasions when a relationship endured that positive transition? If so, share it!
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3 comments:
Question 1:
Our Sunday sermon was about loving people in Christ. Our wonderful new associate pastor John, whose kids I happen to be the proud babysitter of, preached on how we should encourage the faith of believers in our church. It was a great example of how to love others without making them our idols. I think when we focus not so much on the person and what we can get out of them and more on the faith of the other person, we will learn to love others without making them our idols.
Question 2:
No example is coming to mind. I can't wait to hear all of your examples though!
I have found my self doing this in the past and those people all ways let me down, I have found it easier to not do this, I always get hurt to much, not that I don't fall back in to this sometimes, I try and focus on the fact that they are not m life God is...
Connie
GBU
I think the answer to the first question is a 2 part answer. First is knowledge - the knowledge we gain when we spend more time in His word and with Him in prayer. This can lead to the second part of the answer - discernment. As we get to know Him better and are listening to and for the Holy Spirit, spiritual discernment is clearer to us. We are then able to then know and correct those relationships that are becoming idols.
I'm struggling with the answer to the second question. For the moment, I am going to pass on answering that one.
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