Day 5

Day 5: When the going gets tough, the tough…stick it out

Read:

1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 10:24; Proverbs 27:17; Psalm 139:14

Dig Deeper:

Ever learned about friction in school? Friction can slow us down and even keep us from moving forward. It can also spark flames which can lead to some pretty serious problems. It can wear down surfaces or even damage items creating holes and tears. All of this is true of friction; however, without friction, you wouldn’t be able to write, or drive, or even walk! We’d all just be slipping around (which would probably be funny for about 12 seconds). Did you also know that starting at an atomic level, your body is held together by friction? Without friction, you’d quite literally begin to unravel.

Just like with most things in life, there are positives and negatives to friction. And, every relationship, no matter how good, will at some point run into friction. You have certainly experienced this before. Everyone does because no one is perfect. The good news is that we can either embrace this friction to our advantage, or, if we avoid it, we can allow it to unravel our relationships.

Don’t believe the lie that relational friction is bad. Everyone is different. That’s a blessing! These differences can create some major differences of opinion, but every disagreement can be an opportunity for us to learn and grow. Sometimes we learn more about the world, and sometimes we learn more about each other. But, this only happens when we embrace the friction. We can approach disagreements with curiosity, gracious thinking, and commitment to God and one another. When we do, we often strengthen our relationships. That hole that disagreement hole that we dig can transform into relational depth. However, if we run from disagreement, if we drop our relationships at the first sign of trouble, we’ll never grow that beautiful relational depth that God truly wants for us.

In a world full of shallow relationships, we have the choice to grow something healthy, beautiful, deep, and God-honoring. How can you recommit to the relationships in your life today?

Declaration: Say this next statement out loud as a declaration of what you have learned today.

I will approach disagreements with curiosity and will do my best to assume the best about others. No one is perfect and neither am I. My relationships will grow through disagreements, and God will give me the wisdom to place appropriate boundaries when needed.

Pray:

God, help me to not write people off immediately. Help me instead to experience growth and depth in my relationships. Give me the wisdom to know when to stick it out in my relationships and when I need to set new boundaries. Help me to see others the way that you see them. Give me courage in all of these things. Amen.