The God of Relationships

For the love of Christ compels us; because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:14-15)

The Bible is all about relationships. Obviously, the first example would be Jesus. When he was asked to sum up the God-centered life, he said that it was quite simple. Love God; love others (Mark 12:28-31).
I concur with St Augustine, one of the early Church Fathers, who observed that everything written in Scripture is meant to teach us how to love either God or our neighbor.

The triune God is a personal being who exists as a joyous community of humility, servant hood and mutual submission. Not only does God exist in a perfect community Himself, He paid a great price to make it possible for us to enter a relationship with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now He wants this relationship to be made visible in our relationships with others. God knows that not only are we unable to save ourselves, but we are also incapable of truly loving others. So He went beyond offering us salvation; He miraculously infuses us with the ability to love others properly (Rom 5:6).

God created us in His image – with the ability to connect with others in deep and meaningful ways. Yet it did not take long for us to learn how to disconnect and live as enemies. He created relational beings, beautiful and good. Shortly thereafter humans added a creation of their own: revenge. As a consequence, pain, betrayal and loss are now inevitable in a fallen world. But there are two ways to live in such a world: the way of revenge or the way of reconciliation. One road leads to death; the other road leads to life. Make the right choice.