Day 16- Life is all about Love

Verse to remember- The entire law is summed up in a single command. Love your neighbor as yourself. Galatians 5:14

Question to consider - Honestly, are my relationships my first priority? How can I ensure they are?



Relationships are high on the priority list but probably not at the very top. I am a people person and I thrive being around people. I have been told that "people do not know how to take me" so perhaps I am not the type of person that folks want to surround themselves with. I love interacting with people but I am not social butterfly. I do not thrive on superficial blather. I do not mind breaking the ice and talking about trivial things to get further in a conversation but once I learn that the folks are not willing to talk about "heart matters" I can get bored pretty quickly. I also have a problem with saying what is on my mind when it gets there. I usually do not pull any punches and while I understand how important it is to be politically correct and tactful I still have some work at knowing when to be that way and when not to be that way. A friend told me that I get too deep too fast. I get too up front and personal and in your face too quickly in relationships. I have been told that I expect way too much out of a relationship. I guess that I am the type of person that you either love or you hate. People that are more skilled at relationships than myself and have the ability to look beyond my rough edges are able to find out who the REAL me is and they sometimes choose to stick around. For those folks like myself that find it difficult to look past the irritating , frustrating rough edges of others I guess they just blow me off and get out of the way. I need to take a lesson from that thought in that I too need to find a way to be more patient with irritating, frustrating people with rough edges. I have not arrived nor am I perfect and without fault. How can I expect everyone else to be perfected and able to provide perfect harmony with me when I am not? The toughest part of love is learning to love the unlovable. It is so much easier to love someone that has the same priorities, drive, ambitions, faith etc. Unselfish love is that which takes a sacrifice to deliver. Only through the power of God can we find that "Phileo" love that only He can give to reach out and love someone that is difficult to approach for whatever reasons.

The only way that I can ensure that relationships are my top priority is to examine how I spend my time. What I spend my time on the most is what I love. I need to evaluate how I spend my time and remove some of the "time eaters" that rob me of valuable relationships. I find that I spend a lot of time going between the computer and the television set. I lovingly call the TV the "idiot box" because it allows me to disengage my brain and allow myself to be "entertained". Instead of being entertained I need to use some of that time more responsibly by developing closer relationships with my wife and children. I do not consider myself to be emotionally absent like some fathers we might know but I do need to find activities and moments of down time that I can appropriate to spend with my family. I can show my family more love by spending more time with them and getting to know them better. As for relationships outside of the family unit I need to pray and ask God to show me those people that I can invest my time in. I need to be a "Paul" in the life of a younger man who might need to be mentored and I also need to put myself in the position of being a "Timothy" to a man older and wiser than myself that can mentor me. I spend some quality time via the Internet investing time into the lives of men through e-mail and bulletin board systems. I need to spend more time away from the Internet and more time investing my life with others in the community in real life that God has placed me in.