Realise Christ's Love First
I wonder if you need some resurrection power in a relationship or two today. I pray that God will bring it as we dive into His Word and follow His guidance this week.
But before you even think about the person you need to be reconciled to, you've got to realize Christ's love for you.
The Foundation of All Healthy Relationships
Note what Paul said to the Philippians to kick this passage off: "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then..." (Philippians 2:1-2 NIV11) and he goes on from there to explain how to love one another.
Paul makes the case that the ability to love one another and reconcile with one another is rooted in being loved by Christ. To put it plainly: if you don't know His love, you don't know what love is.
Have you heard the saying "hurt people hurt people"? When you are hurt and not healed yourself, you end up hurting others. But if you have known the healing embrace of Jesus, it becomes your joy to love others with the love that He has shown you. Paul says if you are united with Christ and comforted by His love and sharing His Spirit, then you can love. Then you can mend your relationships. But not before.
Receiving to Give
When you're hurting and not resting in the love of God, you tend to lash out. You tend to be harsh. You tend to not love, because there's no love in you to start with. But notice the things you receive when you come to know the love of Christ, according to Paul:
Encouragement – what a gift in these troubling times
Comfort – because life hurts sometimes and we need help
Sharing in the Spirit - a unity with God Himself
Tenderness and compassion from God who cares
Aren't these the things that define any good relationship? If we're going to give these to another, don't we need to know what it is to have them in the first place? God loves us so that we may love others.
He First Loved Us
In fact the apostle John who walked closely with Jesus while He was here on earth wrote this to the early church: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another... We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:10-11, 19 NIV11)
When you've received the love of God, you love others. So, as you think about your broken relationships today, start by thinking of the way God loved you. Think of His patience with you. His remarkable patience. Think of His grace. How, when you didn't deserve it, He loved you anyway. Think of Jesus' own words on the cross: "Father forgive them" and remember how when you were in effect driving nails into His hands, He cried out for your forgiveness. Think of how He nurtured you and cared for you and carried you and gave you more chances than you deserved.
And make the choice to extend the love and grace that you enjoy to your own relationships.
