Five Things I Want To Share With You About Relationships

Hey CenterPointe, here are five things I want to share with you about being faithful with your relationships,

#1 It’s Not About An Affair—remaining faithful in your relationships is important, but I’m talking about being faithful with your relationships. That’s right. How can you and I be good stewards with our relationships? I talked briefly on being faithful with our FINANCES and HEALTH the past few days (click the links to read’em in case you missed’em).

#2 Forgiveness—this word makes my stomach feel queasy. We are quick to receive forgiveness, but don’t ask us to give forgiveness. Is it just more fun to hold on to unforgiveness? Is revenge really that attractive? We cling to unforgiveness like it’s an emergency supply of oxygen. When the plane starts spiraling out of control we know we can grab our unforgiveness to keep us safe… right. Unforgiveness is not and will not keep you alive. In fact, it does the exact OPPOSITE and slowly kills you from the inside out. It’s like a cancer spreading throughout your entire body until you’re hardly recognizable. Your attitude changes. Your appearance changes. Your relationships vanish. And it’s all because you couldn’t say, “I forgive you” (which, by the way, Jesus said to us while he was dying on a cross… HELLO!). If you want to be faithful with your relationships, you gotta be willing to forgive. Who’s first on your list?

#3 Serving Others—I like to be served. I like it when someone takes my order. I like it when someone brings me my food. I like it when someone washes my car. I like it when someone… you get the picture. I can’t be the only one. Just look at all the cars stuffed into the parking lot of Cracker Barrel on any given night of the week. Just look at all the people stuffed into their seats at church on any given Sunday. We naturally want to be served. We want to relax. We want to be treated well. It feels good. The problem with this is that our relationships quickly become a one-way street. We want someone to always be doing something for us and we completely neglect them. Jesus once knelt on the floor to wash the dirty, disgusting feet of the disciples. Their response, “What?!? Jesus, you can’t do this! It should be us cleaning your feet!” But Jesus insisted. And when it was all said and done he left them with this remark, “I came to serve not be served. In serving others we have the opportunity to make them feel important, to make them feel loved, to make them feel a little bit better about themselves (all the things we want for ourselves). Jesus said “serve”… are you?

#4 Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing—if you’re going to be faithful with your relationships then you need to make sure they remain a priority. Work is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. Football is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. Church is good, but it shouldn’t get in the way. How much of your time is divided between _____ and your family? How much of your time is divided between _____ and your friends? For some reason we’ll spend more time at work than with our kids. For some reason we’ll spend more time at church than with our spouse. Then, when we’re all tired and worn out, we’ll go home and serve our families a nice helping of bad attitude and grumpiness. We give our jobs and ministry our BEST and our families get the LEFTOVERS. Something’s not right. Our priorities are out of whack. It’s time to sit down and look at your schedule. It’s time to reprioritize your life. Who or what is getting your best? Who or what is getting the most face time with you? Who or what is the main thing in your life? People matter. Are you living like you believe that?

#5 You’re Only As Sick As Your Secrets—it’s true. The end. What’s keeping you from letting people know the real you? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid they won’t like you? Are you afraid they’ll no longer trust you to be around their kids? Their spouse? Their finances? What’s up? What are you holding on to? It takes so much MORE work to live a lie. Jesus died for you AS YOU ARE. He didn’t wait until your life was in order. He didn’t wait until you somehow cleaned up the mess of your life. He accepted you as you are and if JESUS can accept you as you are I think PEOPLE can as well (and if they don’t, that’s their issue not yours). Be honest. Open up. Let your secrets loose and experience the healing that comes from it and the friendships that grow from it. If you want to be faithful with your relationships you need to be HONEST.

Three Things I Want To Share With You About Your Health

Hey CenterPointe, here’s 3 things I want to share with you about being faithful with our health…

#1 Examined By A Doctor—no thanks! As I shared on Sunday, my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 39. That’s TOO young! I was in high school at the time and became determined to live a “healthy” life so I could live to see at least 40. Well, if by “healthy” I meant pollute my body with drugs, alcohol, and copious amounts of fast food… then I’ve succeeded! The truth is none of us really know how we’re doing INSIDE until we checked by a doctor. I know, nobody wants to sit through a bunch of tests being poked and prodded and pricked, but if it means the difference between you dying NOW and living until LATER—I’d say it’s worth it. Go to the doctor. Find out what’s going on with your body. It’s called PREVENTATIVE medicine for a reason.

#2 Eat Right—why? I still don’t know what this means. I had convinced myself that eating right meant I was using silverware and thanks “please” and “thank you.” Unfortunately, it means more than that. America might not be the fattest country in the world anymore (one of the few times you’ll ever cheer about coming in second place), but being #2 isn’t so great. And if you live in West Virginia… well… we’re the fattest state in the US. Why? Is it because we continue stuffing our faces with processed sugars? Food plays a MAJOR part in it. I remember hearing a story from a lady who had recently returned from Italy. She said while there a server at a restaurant said he could always tell the Americans apart from all other countries simply by looking at our portion sizes. YES! Food matters! Maybe not so much WHAT you’re eating but HOW MUCH of it you’re consuming! Slow down. Eat less. Don’t get that fifth plate at China City Buffet… in fact, DON’T GO to the buffet! Don’t worry, after being examined by your doctor, hopefully they’ll give you a word of advice on your eating habits (that goes for the skinny-fat people too!). Take a few minutes to check out http://www.danielplan.com and, if you have some time, watch the movie Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead.

#3 Exercise—break out those Richard Simmon’s videos and let’s get to work! Seriously, it’s time to add a little exercise to your life. I’m not saying train for a Tough Mudder. That might be a bit much. But it might be time to add a brisk walk or some push-ups or a few classes at Gold’s Gym to your daily routine. Exercise isn’t about getting BUFF, it’s about getting IN SHAPE. We look at magazines and think I need to get slim and trim, but exercising is about being able to run with your kids without feeling like you’re going to DIE! Hey, for that matter, running with your GRANDKIDS! Adding just a little bit of movement, just a little bit of get up and go can and will benefit you mentally, emotionally, as well as physically! You actually start to FEEL better about yourself as you start to FEEL better (imagine that). Check it out, if God says we are His temple, let’s sweep it up, dust out the cobwebs, throw out all the crap we’ve been hording, and get it looking good. Make sure you consult your physician before adding exercise to your routine (see #1).