Relationship gaps. How do we close them? Where do we start?
Tim gave us some practical steps to get started!
First, we must think of others. If we want to follow Jesus, we must have the mindset of Jesus. And Jesus absolutely puts others first.
Secondly, we must serve others. Encouraging words are great and needed. But this is truly getting your hands dirty for someone else. It is jumping in and saying, “I want to help, and I am HERE to help.” To serve like Jesus is another way we can have the mindset of Christ. As Matthew 20:28 reads, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The person that wants to close the gaps in a relationship will serve to the point of sacrificing for others. Most of us love to serve in some capacity. But sometimes, our service only happens because it fits our schedule or our own narrative. Serving to the point of sacrifice may mean stepping out of our comfort zone, and we may even find ourselves sharing in the suffering of those we serve.
And then, we must also share in His joy. If we are in the mindset of Christ, we will glorify God in everything we do. We will live to glorify Him and for the good of others.
So now what? How do we get ourselves to be in the mindset of Christ? We have to first submit our lives to Him every single day. We must trust Him every day; in turn, His residence will be in us through the Holy Spirit!
1 Corinthians 2:12 says this: What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.