Hoarding Relationships

Message audio from December 13, 2020 entitled "Hoarding Relationships" from Mark Wyatt

Relationships can be some of the most beautiful and some of the most frustrating things in our lives.

Our first relationship is often to a parent. If this bond is built on nurturing and love, it can provide a solid foundation for trust and partnership with other people. When relationships like siblings and friendships enter our lives, that can be an entirely different story. While there are blessings and good moments, these bonds also subject us to the dangers and effects of jealousy, deception, and selfishness. Our family and friend relationships end up developing our character development, expectations, and even our understanding of the world.

In this teaching, Mark recounts the sorted and messy story of Jacob and his family to illustrate that no situation is beyond God's ability to bring about good. He shows that despite the deception, jealousy, mismanaged expectations, and unrequited loves, God used this family and its descendants to lead to the coming of Jesus.

Our responsibility as Christians is to view our relationships through a lens of God's redemption. When we recognize God's power to restore and bring good out of our sinful lives, it gives us the grace and means to walk with others through any hardship and be at peace with them as far as it depends on us.