Hello everyone! I hope you are doing great and you have been enjoying the little things today. Like that nice person that didn’t dart out in front of you and make you slam on breaks while you were running late for work. Or the barista at the local coffee shop that made your coffee just right this morning. Or that perfect piece of chocolate that you ate in between classes at school. Whatever it may be, I hope your day is going great.
Okay, so here is the thing. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to talk about in this post, and I had thought about doing something about a devotion I read the other day, but I wasn’t really feeling that. So we’re going to talk about relationships. Now, these are my views on them and they aren’t the right way to do things. I personally enjoy an old fashioned relationship. Not as much drama for everyone to see and know about. But people ask me about my opinions on relationships a lot so I thought I would let this be one of my first posts.
Relationships are not easy, by any means. But they don’t have to be hard either. Here are my 5 tips I think a relationship needs to have:
#1: Jesus
#2: Love
#3: Respect
#4: Communication
#5: Loyalty
Jesus - why Jesus? Well, Jesus is the only person that has walked on this earth without sinning. He lived a perfect and blameless life. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t tempted, because he was. But because he was able to resist the temptation, he was perfect. We, as Christian believers, should strive to be like Jesus. No, we can never be perfect. Ever. But if he is in the center of the relationship, his spirit (also known as the Holy Spirit) lives in you and helps guide your relationship. You and your partner have to also work with the Holy Spirit. Read your bible with your partner, pray together, and share your struggles with each other. You should never feel ashamed to do any of these things with the person you are in a relationship with. They should love you, but ultimately love the Lord above all else. Which leads me to number two.
Love - why love? The definition of love is: “wanting good to come to another person; being concerned and willing to work for another person’s benefit.” John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” You know you love someone when you would die for them. If you have to think twice about giving your life for them, then why are you in a relationship with that person in the first place? Love them as Christ loved his bride, the church. I know its not as easy as it sounds, but love isn’t an easy thing anyways. Never has been. Because there are some situations that you want punch the person in the arm and there are other situations you don’t want to leave their side because of all the love that fills your heart.
Respect - why respect? Respect is a two way street, no doubt. If you are living your relationship to honor God, then you need to respect your partner. Here is an example: you and your boyfriend are about to go on a date, and you have this really pretty dress picked out, but it is a little too short and revealing. You want him to think you look pretty for him, but you know his mind will be in other places all night. Even if he is a strong believer. Should you change your dress? Yes, you should. Because if you want him to respect you and not be mentally undressing you during your date, then you need to respect him and not wear the dress in the first place. I know that isn’t a perfect example, but it is true. The bible says to not be a stumbling block for other believers. And even though you didn’t mean to be a stumbling block on purpose, if you wear that little short dress anyways, it could cause problems. So respect each other, even if it is their thoughts.
Communication - why communication? This one is pretty self explanatory. If you cannot talk to each other one on one, how are you going to be in a relationship? You can’t just text each other all the time. And you can’t always be with your friends whenever you want to hang out. You have to learn to be together, just the two of you, and have a normal conversation. It is okay for there to be awkward silence. You don’t have to talk the entire time you are together, but you can’t not talk. Communication is key to a healthy relationship. You have to be able to tell each other things that you are struggling with, things you don’t like, things you want to do….don’t let the label “relationship” scare you. The person you are in a relationship with should also be your best friend. And if you can’t tell your best friend everything, then are they really your best friend?
Loyalty - why loyalty? There are two definitions for loyalty and I want to say both of them because I like them both. Loyalty - “Making something or someone a priority and doing so in small and discrete but meaningful ways.” and “Staying true to someone or something even when other things call attention.” I don’t think I need to go into a lot of detail with this one because both definitions pretty much cover it. But it goes back to loving and respecting the person you are in a relationship with. If you love and respect them, you will stay loyal to them.
These are just the few things that I think a relationship needs to have to be healthy and stay healthy. I hope you found this helpful. There will be more posts about relationships in the future but I thought this was a good way to start off the topic of relationships. Love you guys and I hope you stick around for more posts!
- Han <3 -
still one of my favorite posts!