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Maintaining good healthy relationships among one another can prove to be difficult. We all have quirks or have experienced failures that make it difficult for another person to get along with us. Sometimes we even make enemies when we are doing what is right and good. While we have little control over how others may choose to treat us, we have many opportunities to make a tremendous impact on our community by treating one another with respect and honor.

In the 2nd half of the book of Ephesians, we are instructed to give careful consideration to how God would have us relate to one another. Chapter 4 takes us well beyond sterile acceptable performance and challenges us in our thoughts and emotions towards one another. The word that stands out to me in verse 32 is kindness. Kindness is described as a fruit which presents itself as an offering for another to receive. When the fruit of the Spirit of God is hanging from the branches of our lives, both the giver and receiver experience joy. To live fruitful lives, pruning is also necessary. Some things simply need to go, they need to be cut off, they need to stop. Without this pruning, healthy fruit will be scarce, and relationships will suffer.

To all who call on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness, they will receive kindness, grace and a new opportunity to live a radically different life. We now have the ability to live a life that pleases God, willing to sacrifice personal gain for the good of another. Challenges and hardships are rarely welcomed, but in the end, these are the times when we grow to love Jesus even more. Jesus invites us to bring our tired, worn-out relationships to Him, He is able to give us the love needed to endure, and the patience to treat people with respect, even in disagreements.

Marv Fisher is the pastor at Calvary Chapel Farmville and can be heard weekdays at 1:30 PM on 105.3 Equip FM radio. He can be reached at pastor@ccfarmville.org.