Relationships are the starting point for others to understand what God is like and what His purposes are for us here on earth. In taking time to build close relationships, we learn that people are more important than things or material possessions. We come to understand that close relationships, not status or accomplishment or virtual realities, are what bring happiness and meaning to life.
Our lives become what we live and model, and when we invest personally in the lives of others, we will reap personally in terms of friendship and affection. There is always a cost to building intimacy with others. Giving comfort to one who is ill requires time and practical labor.
Listening to the feelings of a teen usually involves lost sleep because the deepest conversations take place at night. Buying groceries, cooking meals, making cups of tea, providing snacks requires the sacrifice of time and energy. Keeping house — picking up those messes one more time — is a service of worship to God as we craft a place of beauty and comfort for all who enter our sanctuary of His very presence.
Read more about this in The Lifegiving Home.
