Relationship building (3)

For a relationship to be successful, we need to have good communication. If we don’t share our thoughts and feelings with the other person, we won’t get very far. In fact, we might end up resentful and bitter because the other person didn’t do what we expected them to. But we can’t expect them to know what we need if we don’t tell them. And if we don’t tell someone when they’ve hurt us, we can’t expect them to apologise or change their behaviour. In today’s culture, communication has reached new levels. We can talk to hundreds of people online and through social media. We need to be careful what we’re saying about our relationships when we’re online. Let’s not post about what’s going wrong in a relationship or what’s annoying us about a friend. That’s not helpful for the situation or honouring towards them. We need to make sure we’re discussing problems within our relationships, and doing it in the right way. The Bible says: ‘If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you’ (Matthew 18:15 NIV). Sometimes we need to ask for advice outside the relationship, but let’s be wise about when we do this and who we talk to. Once we’ve raised an issue, we then need to be willing to forgive. The Bible says: ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other’ (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). No one is perfect and no relationship is perfect. People will make mistakes. If we’re going to make a relationship work, and this applies to friendships too, then we need to be prepared to communicate and forgive others.