Relationship Goals?

This post is taken from a church web-site. The church is Faith Church in Layfette, Indiana. I know that this church is a Gospel teaching, Christ centered church and I was curious to see what children’s material they used to go beyond the usual man centered teaching that most of us had as kids in Sunday School…
Wow. I was so encouraged and I’ve never quite thought of my own relationships in this way before….let alone teaching it to my children…
Food for thought…
Enjoy.

Step 4: Emphasize the Goal

It can be easy for a child (as well as any adult) to view a relationship as something that exists for his enjoyment. We need to remind kids of the goal for our relationships–the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Bringing glory to God will likely look different with different people. If a child is reaching out to a Christian, bringing glory to God will involve encouraging that individual to grow in his relationship with the Lord. Conversely, if a child is beginning a relationship with someone who isn’t yet a follower of Christ, the best way he can glorify God is by lovingly, patiently, and respectfully encouraging his new friend to trust Christ as His Savior.

Now, some might argue, “That’s pretty craven…teaching kids that they ought to view every relationship in terms of some religious goal. Telling someone that they need to change their beliefs isn’t loving at all. The loving thing would be to accept them as they are–regardless of what they believe.”

From a humanistic perspective, I can certainly understand that point of view. The problem here is that the humanistic perspective isn’t the most important one to consider. God has given us His perspective on the matter in the pages of Scripture.

God has told us that man’s greatest need isn’t food, water, or even air. His greatest need is forgiveness. And God has graciously offered forgiveness to any who will acknowledge his sin and embrace Christ as his Savior. In light of that perspective, the most loving thing we can do for another person is to encourage, persuade, and yes, even urge them to act on God’s offer. That brings glory to God, and we need to remind kids of this goal.