I am reading a book called Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Lane and Tripp. Here is a quote from it.
Every painful thing we experience in relationships is meant to remind us of our need for Him. To quote C.S. Lewis When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.
It is taking me awhile to read this book because I have to stop and think and ponder lots of it.
3 comments:
You know Ellen, I think this is a great quote! I am not sure I really understand it yet but I am working on it. Thanks for expanding my mind and challenging my heart!
This is a good thought and reminds me of those paradoxes that Jesus talks about in Matthew 10. To find our life, we have to lose it for Christ! It's the same way with our family and loved ones. The best (and really only) way for us to love them is to love Christ foremost. He puts our relationship to everyone else in the right context and the end result for us is that our earthly relationships are stronger.
I definitely want to read this book! Thanks, Ellen!
As I continue reading this book, it's giving me many insights! Who would have ever thought that God may actually put difficult relationships in our life to grow us stronger in Him? And, doesn't God have interesting ways of stressing points that he wants to make to us: on the same day I read the chapter about serving (with the reference in John 13 about Jesus washing the disciples' feet), that same reference was mentioned in the daily reading of My Utmost for His Highest.
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