But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:13,14
Jesus broke down the walls that got in the way of a meaningful relationship between us and Him. Some of those walls are obvious, our sin for instance. Some are less obvious to start with, our thinking that He would never be that interested in me, for instance. These invisible walls become barriers to a relationship that has flow in it. These walls bring an awkwardness to the relationship. He is committed to removing all types of walls because He is committed to meaningful relationships.
He then made the same thing possible between human relationships – between Jew and Gentile for example.
If we are committed to meaningful relationships then there are things we can do to pull down invisible walls between us and others that make relationships flow smoothly. In our marriages, between friends, colleagues and neighbours. Some of these things could be excused as common sense, but how often do we let it slip because something else seems more urgent.
Here are some things that help remove walls and build relationship flow:
– “I am so busy” If we regularly make this comment we make ourselves increasingly appear unavailable, which will cause others to start to exclude us from things, distancing relationships. There is a time to be open with someone if it is requesting support, prayer or help. However, generally a relationship will flow better if we open the arms of our availability.
– Keep your encouragement levels high. Praise should be a large part of any relationship. Its not normal I know, but we can make it normal. To build another up and to receive encouragement too makes for a healthy foundation in relationship. It takes down the invisible wall of “I wonder what they are thinking”, “Do I have any value in this relationship?” In the absence of communication its amazing where our minds go to and the assumptions it can make. We encourage a gift, we say thank you for something done or said, we release others to do what they do best, and we encourage all the way.
Watch this video to illustrate this point brilliantly.
Have a great day. Remember ‘people matter’!
…part2 to follow soon…