God loves relationships. He is in a relationship within the Godhead. He created Adam and Eve to be in a relationship with Him as well as with one another. He wants a relationship with you and me. What stands in the way? Our sin. Until our sin is dealt with we cannot have a relationship with God. We need a savior, a sin-bearer, someone to atone for our sin. That’s where Jesus Christ comes in. He is the sin-bearer, the only way to have a relationship with God. If we would have a relationship with God we must come through Jesus Christ. 

God loves relationships. Next to this article is a diagram of family relationships. It is in the form of concentric circles of relationships. Let me explain it. At the center, the bullseye of the diagram, is the husband-wife relationship. This is the most important of all the relationships for if this relationship is threatened through fighting, separation, or divorce, every other relationship circle feels the ripple effect. The husband-wife relationship must be protected and kept stable if for no other reason than the sake of the children. They need to know that mom and dad love each other, love them, and aren’t going anywhere. Nothing must be permitted to impact the first circle, no third person, no job, not children, not even well-meaning parents. It must be protected.

Children make up the second circle. They are not in the first circle because at some point in time they will launch their own circles when they marry. When that happens, the husband and wife become “empty nesters.”  Children are a higher priority to their mom and dad than any other relationship. They are dependent on their parents in a way that others are not.

The third ring is the relationship circle composed of parents, in-laws, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives. Those in the first two circles outrank them in importance and priority of time, talent, and treasure. Adult children are still to honor their father and mother (Ephesians 6:2, 3) but they are no longer in the priority position in their lives.

The fourth circle is the one occupied by friends and roommates. Friends are important and we want them in our lives. There are two kinds of friends, a) lifelong friends who’ve known us for many years and with whom we process life and b) journey friends. Journey friends are those who travel with us during a specific period of our journey through life. They are transient and will come and go as distance, time, and changes cause us to drift apart. Roommates often fall into the journey friends category.

Finally, the fifth circle includes neighbors and co-workers. We know these people but our relationship to them is usually pretty superficial and shallow.

Protect the first circle relationship! It is the primary relationship and its health affects all other relationships. It must be protected at all costs. Nothing must be permitted to harm it.

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30),

Irv