“God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in Him” (1 John 4:16). Relationship is the foundation of God’s nature and love is the basic identity of God; therefore love is basic to our identity. When we are in a loving relationship, we are alive and growing. A plant needs water, sunlight, and soil to grow and survive. Just like a plant, we grow and thrive, that is, to be “rooted and grounded” in love. We literally draw from the love of God and others to fuel our recovery and our transformation into likeness of Christ.
The condition and health of our heart depends on our ability to love God and others. “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit” (Proverbs 15:13). Our emotional and mental well-being depends on the condition of our heart. The heart is the seat of all our dreams, desires, goals and hope. We are told to guard our heart “for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Often times in life, we can be injured at early developmental stages including infancy, childhood, and even early adulthood. When this occurs, we have great difficulty trusting, being intimate, and depending on others. When we were robbed or lost our ability to connect, we suffer from several root causes; abandonment, rejection, loneliness and fear that will separate us from the love of God and others. When we are alone or isolated, our lives are darkened, become chaotic and our growth is stunted.
Because of our hurts, loss and pain, we develop walls around us to prevent others from ever hurting us again, or so we think. Failure to resolve issues in the past interferes with our ability to live in the present as God intended. Our past injury and pride blinds us to the truth and reality that sets us free. We rebel and try doing things our way until we hit bottom and turn to God who is the source of relationship and the author of love. Our needs are the fuel to growth and healing. Relationship to God and others helps us to meet our needs. Without such connectedness to God and others, we will slowly wither and die, just as a branch is cut off from its vine. Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine (John 15:44).
When we are in a loving relationship, we are able to see meaning in serving others and in our accomplishments. We are able to accomplish more on our own, when our “emotional tanks” are full. When we are bonded to God and others, our accomplishments have a deeper meaning. Events and work have purpose instead of obligation or a function. Instead of “task-oriented” work and service becomes “relationally oriented”. Life becomes exciting because connecting with others increases the opportunity to exercise your God given talents and abilities which provides help and resources to others in need or of need.
Satan wants us to be fearful of the very thing we need the most. He wants to destroy our relationships and make us fragmented. The plan of the enemy is to get us to believe we can get our God given legitimate needs met in counterfeit ways: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:16.)
It is very wise to understand the methods of the enemy: he comes to kill, steal, and destroy.
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