Work On That Relationship

Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do.

Colossians 3:23 NLT

For hundreds of years, inventors have been working on various versions of perpetual motion machines, trying to invent a device that will keep going without any input of energy. No one has yet succeeded.

Many people think love, marriage, and friendship are perpetual motion machines that will keep going without our energy and effort. They aren’t. We have to work at spending time together, being patient with each other, and listening to what the other is saying. We have to work at serving the other person without complaint.

Whether with our spouse, kids, or friends, a good partnership takes work; otherwise, at some point, the relationship will lose steam.

Contrary to popular opinion, love is not having a trouble-free relationship. It’s caring deeply about the needs of the other person even if and when there is stress in the relationship. Love means putting up with the faults, flaws, and failures of the other. This kind of love isn’t of the earth, but from above. It flows into imperfect hearts and heals imperfect circumstances, for it comes from an infinite and infallible God who loves us.

Do you need to work a little harder on that troubled relationship? Why not start today?