Authentic Relationships

   I am feeling especially thankful for my family today. At the end of one of my classes this morning, I checked my phone to find four text messages, two from my sister, one from my mom and one from my dad. I had to chuckle to myself. I enjoy the independence and freedom I am gaining by living away from them, but my relationships with them will always be so precious to me. Throughout my middle school and some of my high school years, I took my relationships with my family members for granted too often. When I moved here to go to school, I realized how important these relationships are to me and my deep desire to strengthen them. God has been showing me the importance of having authentic relationships, with my family and with other believers. 
   Today in one of my classes, the professor was talking about how having authentic relationships with other believers will lessen the temptations in our lives because of the accountability and encouragement those kinds of relationships bring. That made so much sense to me. It seems so obvious, yet we struggle with this daily. He discussed how our thoughts turn into words and our words into our behaviors. It is a slow fade. When we have those authentic relationships, people willing to call us out when they see sin in our lives, we have that support and encouragement to help us as we work through those different situations. 
   God has placed people in our lives and blessed us with the opportunity to have these kinds of relationships, rooted in His truth and love. However, I know there have been times in my life where authenticity has scared me because I was trying so hard to appear "put together" on the outside. We know that being real with someone else will require us to look at our hearts, look at our inner world. It means being vulnerable and open to someone else. It means admitting to those mistakes, struggles, and regrets we have, instead of burying them deeper or ignoring them. 

    
   God has placed people in all of our lives for this purpose; people to guide us, support us, protect us, and confront us, people to challenge us, encourage us, and pray for us. People that will be faithful to us in good times and bad times. People who accept us for who we are and encourage us as we seek out our identity in Christ. God is using us in this way in other people's lives as well. Through God's work in us, we can help others and show them God's love. Having these authentic relationships in our lives will help us grow into the people that God has created us to be.