No Man Is An Island

No man is an island. ~John Donne~

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. God has made relationships because they are so very important. In Nathan Zacharias' article on Boundless Webzine, he says this,

We're not meant to go through this life alone. As Marcus states at the end of the movie, "you need backup." God uses friendships to help bring happiness when all seems right, and to help hold us up when all seems wrong. Certainly, there are risks involved. Will was right; if you open yourself up enough to where people can make you happy, then they can make you unhappy too.

None of us is perfect, and friends are likely to let you down from time to time. And sometimes a person you thought was your friend may even betray you in a very painful way. Yes, letting someone in to your life can open the door to heartache. But Marcus was right too; living a life where you keep everyone at arm's length and avoid caring about anyone other than yourself causes you to miss out on one of the greatest sources of happiness.

(Read the whole article here- it'll probably make a little more sense :) )

The American lifestyle is not extremely conducive to close and open relationships inside families and much less outside of families. We don't like to rely on others, ask for help, reach out of our comfort zones, or sacrifice our precious time, but relationships are the entire reason we weren't zapped up to Heaven the moment we placed our trust in Jesus Christ. Relationships are the only way we can reach the lost, hurting world. Religiousness doesn't endear us to anyone, but when we take time and energy and invest ourselves in others' lives, that is when the opportunities present themselves to talk about the One we are here to glorify. Let's not live by rules and regulations, but by relationships (which by the way, gives us the desire to honor with obedience to rules and regulations) with the pain filled world and with our God. Show your care. Show your love. Show the world who Christ is.