General Guidance for All Relationships

(Mark 12:30) 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.

True love is a decision that begins with giving your heart to God. God desires that you love Him with all of your heart. We are only to give our whole heart to God, and not to any other person. (Proverbs 23:26 NKJV) My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways. The most important commandment given by God to us, is to "love the LORD your God with all your heart" We put God first in our lives by giving Him our heart; our mind and body will follow our heart. As we give God control of our heart His love will fill us and flow through our heart touching other people.

The most important relationship you will ever have is with God; it is an eternal and infinite relationship. The greatest love relationship in the universe is between God the Father, and His Son, Jesus the Christ. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, is what unifies the Father and Son; they share the same Spirit, making them One in each other.

For those who are in Christ Jesus, God also gives us the precious gift of His Holy Spirit, to be with us and in us forever. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, is what unifies us with God and with others who are part of Christ' body of believers. (John 14:15-17 NIV) "If you love me, you will obey what I command. {16} And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- {17} the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

The quality of your relationship with God will directly affect the quality of all your relationships with people. Although life is short, the rewards of loving God, and of letting His love flow through you to other people has infinite benefits that will keep on blessing you, now and forever. The only thing that you can take to heaven with you is the people that you love. The only rewards that you have in heaven are for the times that you express love to God through obedience to Him, and the times that you allow Him to express His love for others through you. (1 Corinthians 2:9) But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Our love for God increases as we get to know Him more and more. (1 John 4:19) We love Him because He first loved us. Jesus prayed for all believers in (John 17:25-26 NIV) "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. {26} I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." As the revelation of God's love for us increases through knowing God more intimately, so also our love for God increases. In each of our lives Jesus promises to continue to give us greater and greater revelations of God the Father, so that the same love that the Father has for Jesus will be in us, and that He may be in us.

Jesus in the Middle of Every Relationship
In every relationship that we have with other people our relationship with God must continue to be our most important priority. Jesus says in (Matthew 10:37) "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. When we keep our relationship with God as the most important relationship in our life then we will have supernatural wisdom on how to express true love to other people because the Spirit of love, the Holy Spirit, will guide us.
In every situation that we come together with another person, or a group of people we are to do so in Jesus name. (Matthew 18:20) "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the middle of them." Every relationship should have the purpose of glorifying God, Jesus should always be in the middle of every relationship. In every relationship a good question to ask yourself is; does this relationship bring me closer to Jesus? Does this relationship bring the other person closer to Jesus?
The glory of God is the manifestation and revelation of His love. Jesus prayed to the Father for you to have unity in your relationships. (John 17:22-23) "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: {23} "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. In a good relationship, with Jesus in the middle, each person is coming closer to Jesus becoming one with Him and thus one with each other. Many relationships go bad because people leave Jesus out of the relationship and give their heart to another person instead of God. This will always lead to disaster.

Whoever you give your heart to, is your God. People do this out of ignorant selfishness, seeking to get their needs met through another person, which is impossible. Only God can give us the love, joy, and peace that we all are seeking. When you keep Jesus in the middle of the relationship, you will maintain your inner source of love, joy and peace, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Even if the relationship with the other person does not work out, you will have inner stability, because God is your source, not the other person.
Relationships go bad because one or both people loose their focus on Jesus in the relationship. When this happens selfishness takes over, instead of caring about the benefit of God and the other person. (James 4:1-3 NIV) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? {2} You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

The greatest relationships are when two people come together in the name of Jesus. In such a relationship both people have an inner source for love, joy, and peace so that they are both free to be givers to each other, because God is their source of happiness and not the other person. Jesus says in (John 15:7-14) "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. {8} "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. {9} "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. {10} "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. {11} "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. {12} "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. {14} "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.