Boundless #3.

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one in another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

Today's Boundless challenge is to meditate on this passage from Romans 12, and write down how we think this reflects on relationships.

Although I know the challenge is more towards "dating" relationships, the first sentence really caught my attention. Sincere. Meaning: honest, pure, true. As believers, we are to love one another. This is something I struggle with sometimes. My friends, I love to death, and have no problem encouraging them and pouring into them. People I don't necessarily get along with.... that's a different story. There are some points at which I try to be nice to the people I don't like... but I know it's not sincere, sadly. I've been praying lately that God would just remind me of how much love He has shown me, and that I would be so overwhelmed with that reminder that I just pour out that love to others.

"Honor one another above yourselves." With the reading from Friday, this sentence stuck out to me on the dating front. The "dating" relationships we start/have are to be God-honoring. And as the article had said: to not get too emotionally attached, not share every detail about our lives in the first week, have boundaries, etc. To me this means to actually watch what you say/do, so that you don't cause the other one to 'stumble' and become more attached and whatnot. If both people watch their actions/words not only for themselves, but to guard the other person's heart as well... the relationship should stay at a healthy level. And, I think when both parties stay at a healthy distance, then we don't become distracted from serving God... "never lacking zeal."

I've never looked at this passage in a relationship aspect... but I'm glad He gave me a fresh eye for this! Really opened up my eyes and heart to new things.