The Lordship of my life

 

Chapter 7: Relationships Under His Rule

I have struggled most of my life with the desire to please others.  When I was a child, this was appropriate most of the time when that meant my parents.  It wasn't always appropriate when it meant my siblings, friends, or people I wouldn't even consider friends.  As much as God was directing me, I still had a fear of man, what others thought, and their reactions.  God has been breaking that off of me intensely the last 5 years.  What freedom there is in coming under His Lordship!  

How is this topic different than our words and social impact?  Isn't this likely to be repetitive?  Yes, because some things need to be driven home: our lives are meant to be relational, and everything we do impacts others.  No, because this is an opportunity to examine the priority we put on relationships and who we're actually seeking to honor with our lives.

I want to propose this to you:  the people in your life are not the problem: the power you give the enemy through them instead of the Holy Spirit is.

Whew!  Sit on that for a minute.    

Whether it is spoken through them, perceived through their actions, or an expectation you have to see a change in them through your words and actions; putting ourselves in the wrong position of authority is destructive.  When we take the Holy Spirit's job of being our guide or in being someone else's Holy Spirit in the way we speak to others, we are in for a crash.  When we elevate other's approval of us over God's approval we are in for a crash.

Is your testimony riddled with relational destruction?  Maybe you don't even feel like you have a testimony because you don't know how to get out of the relational stronghold.  Do you think there is somebody in your life who makes it too difficult to live the way you really think God wants you to live, someone who is forcing you to prioritize their agenda over your God-given passions?

God designed relationships to reflect His love, order, and holiness.  If you are struggling with a relationship, somebody who has the power to make you think twice about what you do on the daily, may I propose to you that you are submitting to them (and ultimately Satan's ploy to distract you), instead of God?  You may have a ton of excuses:

• I am afraid of them
• They might hurt me or my family
• I get paid by them
• They're my parents
• It's my spouse
• I don't want to lose relationship with my children
• They're the only friends I have and I don't want to be alone

I am not telling you to disconnect with them, but to remove yourself from their Lordship and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ for your relationship with them.  For some of these, it may mean you need to move out of their proverbial house.  Your brain is still locked in when you need to leave and cleave, or you are not allowing them freedom to leave and cleave.  

The Message Bible says it this way in Luke 14:26, but read it in your own Bible: "One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple."

Ask yourself: Am I drawing closer to God: vertical living, or abandoning Him for the futile hope of pleasing the horizontal relationships?  If you can recognize that you're reading the Word and when you get up from it, not living it, this might be your struggle.  

The question is not just, "Does this relationship draw me closer to Jesus?", it's, "am I abandoning all else for Jesus?" 

Surrender often means letting go of our hope in the horizontal for our help from the vertical: What is Holy Spirit telling you is best?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding... he will make straight your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5–6