The Value of Relationships

We are living in a divisive era.  It seems that we no longer live in a world tinted with subtle shades of gray but rather in a world that is colored in stark contrasts of black and white.   The voices of the extreme positions on any issue often drown out those voices that seek moderation and a middle path. We now find ourselves in an "us" against "them" world and those who aren't a part of our camp are considered our mortal enemy. 

Those things said, our principles are important.  We believe what we believe because these are things that matter to us.  Our principles are the bedrock beliefs on which I stand.  They help shape and define who each of us happens to be.  One cannot go through life without a prevailing ethos whether we chose it and set out to follow it or it organically grows through our life experiences.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that not all of us will have the same bedrock principles.  For the Christian our bedrock principles come from the teachings of Christ.  However, many sincere and dedicated Christians make different interpretations of Christ's teaching and of the other tenets of scripture.  Further, the reality of our world is that as followers of Christ we are counter cultural in many instances.  The teachings of Christ often stand in opposition to the general tenor of our society.  Thus, as Christians we will not always be in agreement with those around us or even in agreement with Christians who do not draw the same conclusions as we do.

In my devotional reading the last few weeks I've been spending a lot of time in the Gospels.  There is one consistent theme that I see in the actions of Jesus and that is that he valued relationships above all.  When he healed on the Sabbath he was saying that a person was more important than a rule or a principle.  When had a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well he said the a person was more important than the boundaries that society erects.  When 5000 hungry people stood before him he didn't lecture them on their morals but rather he fed them.

Jesus never accepted any principles or beliefs that did not conform to God's will.  Yet, nothing stopped him form loving and caring for those with whom he did not agree.  He constantly sought ways to bring people together rather than drive them apart.

As we examine the times in which we live we would be wise to value our relationships above all.  There are plenty of folks in our world who will not see things the way we do when it comes to the issues of the day; however, each of them like all of us, is a living, breathing child of God.  We are never called to forget our principles or disregard our values.  However, building good relationships with our friends, neighbors, co-workers, family members and even our fellow Christians is the ultimate virtue.


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