Have you ever struggled in your relationships? I think we all have. Maybe you find it hard to love your brother, aging parents or your teenage child? Maybe there is an ongoing strife between you and your spouse, your neighbor or your in-laws. Relationships are hard! But I have stumbled onto a nugget of truth that can help us strengthen our spiritual eyes, see others in a better light and improve the relationships around us.

Do you remember that old Beatles song, “All you need is LOVE?” That song has been running around in my head for over two weeks now. For me, February is the “LOVE” month and even though I hate the weather it brings, I love all the Valentine’s Day decorations. This is the month I pack up all my snowflakes and snowmen and bring out the pink hearts and love signs. I’m not in love with the commercialization of the holiday. I am in love with God. Being surrounded by all this love reminds me of the amazing love God has for us.

“All I need is LOVE.” 

The Bible says “God is love.” All God can be is love. The reason we can even love ourselves, each other or anyone else around us is because God first loved us. In fact, 1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Hanging in my bathroom is a wooden sign that reads, “All you need is LOVE.” It occurred to me that if God is love and “All you need is love”, then all I really need is God! This seems so simple and yet I complicate it over and over again. Once I understand God is love, that God first loved me and created me out of that love, then I can begin to love those around me. My love for others flows out of the love that God has for me. Once I get this, everything else falls into place.

My love for others flows out of the love that God has for me. 

My family can always tell if I haven’t been getting my time in with God. How quickly I fall back into bad habits and ugly behaviors. It tells on me. It isn’t that God needs me. I need God. Spending time in prayer with God, reading the Bible and reflecting on scripture keeps me connected with God. This cultivates my relationship with God. You cannot have a relationship with someone if you don’t spend any time with them. And not just time talking, you need to listen as much as you talk. This is communication. Communication cultivates relationship. Relationship is where love is realized.

So the next time you are struggling in any relationship, pause and remember your first love; your relationship with God. How is that relationship? Are spending time with God? The realization of the love God has for us puts every other relationship around us in order. God is not a God of chaos or confusion. God is a God of order, of peace and of love. God has lavished a great love for us and in us. Spend time with God understanding that love and then be amazed at the love that flows from you into every other relationship you have.

Let us pray;

Oh God of Love, thank you that you first loved us. Teach us how to have a relationship with you and show us how to have a relationship with those we struggle with. May we love you like you love us. In Jesus’ name, Amen. -M