I'll Love You Anyway

Take a few minutes and really think about the different relationships you have in your life. Better yet, take as much time as you need, and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, “Am I happy in this relationship? Do I feel loved? Do I feel appreciated?” Let’s also ask this question about ourselves, “Do I make my friend or significant other feel loved and appreciated?” It may be helpful to list out a few things that could make your relationships more fulfilling. I am sure we can all think of at least one or two things that would make our relationships more rewarding. The awesome thing is we don’t have to continue to settle for the status quo in our relationships. They can change, and we can be the ones to initiate change.

I am sure we can all agree on one fact and that is relationships are tough! Let’s face it, it takes at least two people to make a relationship work, and those two people are very different. They each have different backgrounds, different personalities and temperaments, different likes and dislikes, different morals and opinions, different ways of handling things, different everything. As similar as some people are in certain areas of their lives, no two people are completely alike. Take a set of twins raised in the same household, for example. As difficult as it may be to differentiate one from the other, there are differences.

Some relationships we don’t have a choice to be in, such as with family. We were born to our parents because God, in His perfect plan, chose to put us with them. We do not choose our parents. God places us in our families whether we like them or not. Other relationships we choose to be in. We choose our friends and our marriage partner. Hopefully, we choose wisely, but no matter how wise our decisions, no one is perfect. As time goes on even those relationships can get complicated.

I heard a pastor once ask, “Does the person with whom I am in a relationship compliment my life or complicate my life?” He was referring to dating relationships, but we can ask ourselves this question even in other types of relationships. Do the people with whom I am in a relationship point me to Christ or to the world? Do they encourage and uplift me, or do they discourage me and drag me down? Do they distract my focus and attention away from the Lord? While it is important to ask ourselves these questions before getting into relationships, what about family relationships or those of us who are already in committed relationships?

By no means should we ever give up and call it quits on a relationship if at all possible. Believe me, I know there are times where giving up would be much easier. All relationships have rough spots. Some are marked with seasons of turmoil while others may always be chaotic, but relationships tend to survive the turmoil and grow or they will become plagued with distance and dissolve.

Some of my most treasured relationships have experienced periods of great distress. Crisis moments in a relationship challenge our commitment to fight and push through issues or may tempt us to sweep the issues under the rug and walk away. Crisis moments can take the two in the relationship to a deeper more intimate level or it can become a wedge where the two grow apart.

Relationships are one of God’s greatest tools He uses to teach us to be more like His Son. In His word, He wrote about the necessity of relationships. We were never meant to live life alone or walk the Christian life by ourselves. We need to be encouraged and strengthened in our daily lives. It would be nice if all relationships complimented our lives. However; realistically speaking, not all relationships do. If we really knew the value of each life and the worth Christ sees in every person, how could we give up on a person?