Part 1, Lesson 1: Relationships

This writer recently traveled out of country on a cruise ship, and as I love to do, I watched people around me in many different situations. There were passengers who treated the crew and staff of the ship with respect and thankfulness for their service, as well as passengers who pretended they did not exist even though they were caring for their food needs in the most careful way. There were vacationers who pushed their way into a line ahead of others who had been waiting much longer for an elevator, and those who gave their place in line for that elevator to someone who was disabled and could not walk the stairs. There were people who sat at table with strangers and told their own life-stories to the exclusion of all other conversation, and those who took care to include all at the table into equal conversation. There were couples sitting beside each other in a quiet place where one simply stared at nothing though the other was trying to claim their attention, and there were couples with their arms around each other sharing every detail of what they experienced with their loved one. There were parents trying to cajole their child into joining them for a meal only to have the child sit sullenly, quiet through the entire event, and there were children and parents who talked with each other with love for each other shining from their faces.

What makes a relationship good or bad? Maybe a better question is, what makes a relationship something more than just two people who happen to be together? This writer grew up in a family-community where extended family was part of every day of our lives. Our family visited grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters multiple times each week.


Our world has changed, and we have lost much of the art of relationships as we have widened our world from close communities to world-associations in our travel, business, and even family relationships. Many have forgotten how to form good, lasting, beneficial relationships in the rushing through life that characterizes many societies today. Grandparents rarely sit to just visit with their grandchildren about what they are learning in history – so the grandparent can say “I was there when…” and the grandchild can write a paper from that first-hand experience. Too often we are in too great a hurry to get to our next task or appointment to just stand and visit with a stranger in line with us at the store. We forget to ask for the waiter or waitress’ name when they serve us in a restaurant.

And most of us are too busy, too afraid, too self-conscious to ask a stranger if they know Jesus, or if they are certain they will go to Jesus’ Heaven when they die.

This study is, therefore, about relationship – and how Jesus wants us to follow His example in forming relationships that will last for eternity. We will hear from different people, with a wide range of experiences. We begin with the most important relationship – ours with Jesus, and then continue with the relationship with our self, relationships with family and friends, and finally our relationship to others in our church. I pray this study will help each of us form great relationships that will last for eternity!