A couple of days ago I met a woman who has been married for 11 years and trying to have a child. I was talking to her about life and keeping a positive mind set. When I left she was crying because of how happy and touched she felt with the conversation we had. I was overwhelmed with joy and also confused that I could have this type of effect on a woman like her because she already seemed to have a good life. All I could do was thank God a million times since He utilized me in that situation. I kept emphasising the importance of prayer and believing in God because then without Him our lives would be meaningless and we could be walking on this earth with no goal, passion or joy. This experience emphasized for me the importance of relational health. Relational meaning the relationships we have with others and how much we take care of it. Todays topic is going to be focused on a sermon that was given by Fr. Anthony Messeh which you can find on the Upper Room app. So, I’m going to focus on why our relational health is important from a spiritual and medical level. In Genesis chapter 2, God says “it is not good that man should be alone”. From the beginning God said man should not be alone and all Jesus focused on was LOVE and RELATIONS.
We know that God doesn’t lie, gossip, nag, come up with an excuse as to why He is late, forget our birthday, or leaves the seat up after the bathroom, and this is why it is harder for us to love one another than to love God because we see each others weaknesses and imperfections. I wondered to myself why does Christianity involve “others” so much, like “love one another”, “pray for one another”, “don’t judge one another”. Why couldn’t God just be a selfish God and say this is what I need from you? Because God doesn’t want anything from us but FOR us! He is looking at what YOU need for you. It is like a doctor who is prescribing medication, they will give you what you need to feel better. God says, it is what I want FOR you not from you. We need one another, we were made for relationships not isolation and another word for relationships can be love. In a world where all other Gods cared about individualized worship, God preached to us “don’t lie”, “don’t cheat” and “don’t judge one another”. In Romans 13: 8 it says “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law”. Also, James 2:8,“ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well” and, in Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Why does it say ROYAL law? Because it is the law of God and God IS LOVE and through relationships we can show love. That is all God wants for us, all he wants for all of us is to love one another and to take care of the relationships we have and correct the bad ones.
From a medical perspective, in 1990, there was a study done to record the effect isolation had on people as they were aging. The results showed that isolation from others worsened their memory and cognitive behaviours. Another study was done on newborn babies; to see what language they would come up with when they are isolated from any human communication. So as you can imagine, they where taken care by caregivers who fed them and washed them but did not speak to them. The result? Because the babies had no communication with others around them, they could not form a language and passed away. Again, we were made to show love to others through pure human relationships. If you think you can do it on