I know it's been a long time, but I have a senior who is
about to graduate and the word busy has given my life a new meaning. So,
I decided to take a break last week and go to lunch with a friend, while we
were enjoying our time together I began telling her how God has been showing me
the importance of relationship in regards to the body of Christ as well as our
personal relationships. While I was sharing she gave me a scripture,
Ephesians 6: 15-16 (Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the
mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the
whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and
builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.) She went on to tell me that she has
read this scripture so many times and kept asking God- "what were the
ligaments?" And
finally He showed her that the ligaments are the relationships within the body
of Christ and they are essential. It's
not enough to have a body but the body must be healthy and functioning properly
in order to be effective in what it is called to do.
Immediately I was able to see it very clearly and
understood why God has always had me stand in the gap to fight for relationships.
God didn't just need a body, but He desires a strengthened body; not a
fractured bride but a strong and radiant bride. When a ligament is torn it
limits mobility in the body. The ligaments connects the bones and cartilages in
our natural body; serving to support and strengthen the joints, which are the
axes of movement. Now read Ephesians 6:16 again and just sit on this for a
minute, until you are able to see why relationship is so important. Sit on it
until you see why the enemy always attacks our relationships especially within
the body of Christ. He keeps us divided and weakens our ability to move towards
and in the things of God effectively; keeping us from being the extension of
His Love in the earth realm.
The enemy never plays fair. He is not ethical; his plan is
to kill, steal, and destroy what God has established as a core foundation for
His body. One of the enemy's strategies is to disable the body! The sad part is
we keep falling prey to his tactics; becoming the very vessels used to weaken
the body. We have to become the gatekeepers of our relationships. Be on guard
and protect what God himself is using to strengthen His body; He uses
relationships because strong relationships = unity. Yet we are too busy
fighting each other to win the title of "being right." Like my
friend Kelsi stated, "Instead of trying to be right, let's be
righteous." My friend Gina once told me that she heard the Lord ask
her "how many times do you need to be right before you are wrong?"
How long will we allow self-righteousness to be our voice of reason? How
long will we allow our emotions to dictate our response? Our emotions are
suppose to be a way to funnel & release what we are feeling, not to be our
guide because they can often lead us into the wrong direction of thinking.
We have to stop spending our energy trying to prove who is
wrong or right. How long will we continue to argue our theologies instead
of allowing the theology of our lives to speak and defend itself.
I'm not saying we need to be foolish in building
relationship with people, especially if a relationship has been previously
fractured, but what I am saying is to love people in spite of their
inadequacies, it cost us nothing but it cost Jesus everything. He went to the
cross and paid the price for our punishment, yet we still want others to pay
for theirs. It baffles me, we are suppose to forgive not because the
people who hurt us made everything right, not because they publicly admitted they were wrong, or what our
expectations of them are in order to forgive, but simply because our father in
heaven forgave us. I wonder what would have happened if Jesus would have
stood at the cross and said, "I'm
going to get up there after mankind has learned their lesson, after I receive
an apology for all they've done,
and let's not forget they must be punished first." I am so grateful I serve a
merciful God.
Now, one of the reasons the body continues to be weakened
is because of the spirit of offense, which is so rampant in our churches and in
our personal lives. I have to tell you that if you have the spirit of
offense, more than likely, you are walking in unforgiveness.
That's why every time someone does something that reminds you of that familiar
place of pain and/or betrayal, etc., you respond out of the spirit of offense.
It's time to be free people! We have to stop holding on to nonsense. Let
Go and Let God! People don't define or control us. We are responsible for
our actions even if another person had a role in the situation. For years I blamed
everyone for the many disappointments and pain in my life, but I had to stop
and look at the man in the mirror. I was accountable for the decisions I made
in spite of the actions of others. In like manner we also need to free
people- how long are we going to hold people in bondage to their past mistakes?
Their mistakes do not define them, just like yours don't define you. If we
don't learn to love one another, understanding we all are a work in
progress and try to see the God in people then our relationships will remain is
a desperate state and we will continue to be an open target for the
enemy. If our ligaments (relationships) are not strengthened they can
cause the body to fall. Remember it cost you nothing to forgive and love
a person but it cost Jesus everything- He was humiliated, spit on, hit,
flogged, His head pierced by thorns, it cost Him to be a man who knew no sin to
bare our sins; to be separated from His heavenly father. I know it's easier
said than done but we have the Holy Spirit, who is love and pours the love into
us so that it can flow out of us. So all our excuses died on the cross! Remember apart from Him we can do nothing but
with and in Him we can do all things. The enemy is very cunning and He
knows in order to stop a move of God, he has to cripple the body. Don't
allow the enemy to use inconsequential things or circumstances to tear, rip
apart, twist, or over stretch the ligaments (relationships) within your body.
Choose to be the gatekeeper of your relationships in and out of church. Protect
them at all cost because the enemy is a coward and he using those who are close
to us to hurt us. Be the one to stand at the gate and say you will not destroy
my body! I will leave you with this; we don't fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Now that you know your real target,
aim and fire! Be Ye encouraged and don't fall prey to being the vehicle in
which the enemy uses to wreck the body!
Tiffany James, Encouraging Touch Enterprise
"Give a gift that creates a Legacy to Encourage, Inspire, and Bless those you love for a life time"
"Give a gift that creates a Legacy to Encourage, Inspire, and Bless those you love for a life time"
