Keys to Relational Intimacy

 We all want satisfying and intimate relationships. We were born to love and be loved. But the achievement of satisfying relationships often seems elusive and frustrating. What are some of the essential ingredients in building a life of relational satisfaction?  If we know how we have been made.... who we are at our core, we can lay the bricks that build a lasting bridge toward relational intimacy. The first book of the Bible reveals something about our inherent nature and personhood that we must understand. In Genesis chapter 1 and verse  26, "Let us make man in our image , after our likeness."

  We are more than our physical bodies. When our heart stops beating it doesn't mean we cease to exist. Our spirit lives on.... the eternal ME, our personhood needs to be understood before we expect to build deep and lasting relationships. Our spiritual self relates to our deepest desires, search for meaning, love, purpose and worth.
  All of us have two real and profound needs which must be met before we can experience intimacy that lasts. The image of God is reflected upon us through those two needs. God is a personal being who in his essential nature is LOVE. God is also a creator of design and purpose and the author of meaning for all of us.  We too are personal beings....but we are limited, dependent and sinful. God is love..... we need love.  Whatever God produces and empowers is significant. It's in knowing God that we find deep love and significance. Let's take a closer look at our two essential needs as human beings.
1. Security: a deep understanding of being unconditionally loved without needing to change in order to obtain that love.  To be loved by a love freely given, not earned and impossible to lose.
2. Significance: This is found when we realize we are engaged in a life that is truly important, a life whose significance will not evaporate with time... but will last throughout eternity. This life will have a meaningful impact on another person and fit who I am as a person. (Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

  The foundation stone for acheiving intimacy is Truth. In a relationship with God in Christ, we can live satisfied.... knowing that we are at every moment eternally loved and genuinely significant. As Watchman Nee says so well in his commentary on the book of  Ephesians (Sit, Walk, Stand), "Christianity begins not with a big DO , but with a big DONE." In other words, cease striving..... and begin to really live by grace and the love available to you through God's finished work on the cross of Christ.
  When key relationships falter and cause me to feel insecure or less significant, I can continue to hold firmly to the fact that in Christ I am always and forever a worthwhile person. God's first call is not to a religion or system of belief. God's first call is always to himself.... to relationship, to an intimate knowledge of his love and person. That kind of love never disappoints. He's calling you to know him....really know him.  Answer the call to relationship.

Jim