Distant Relationships

Prov.20:⁶ “Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?”

Question 2: The second question you need to wrestle with to move forward is: Is there someone I need to love from a distance? Now, forgiveness is one thing and trust is another. To confuse the two is suicidal. In fact I will advise you to love everyone but trust a few. There will always be some people whose only objective is to drag you back, by injecting negative energy into you. You need to identify such people and love them from a distance. How can you love everyone and trust a few? It is possible. It is folly to think you can trust everybody, because you cannot. Attempting to trust everybody is the fastest way to shorten your life span. However, you can love everybody; so love everyone.

Even Jesus did not trust everybody. Jn.2:²⁴ “But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people.” Jesus knew the heart of men and for this reason he did not trust them. One minute they will shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord”. And in less than twenty-four hours, those same people will demand, “crucify Him!” The same people, not people from another country the same people. If Jesus could not trust everybody, why should you? Whose follower are you? Jesus.

You need to learn the art of discerning people because it will help you. It is an art because you can develop and grow it. You also need to be dispassionate about discerning people because sentiments can wreck you. Your history with the person does not matter – the one thing that matters is what God is saying. In fact, if you check through the Bible, Old and New Testaments, the greatest danger to God’s people has always been the influence of the people around them. You know what God has put in your heart but they will advise you not to pray too much, or sacrifice so much for God, or just slow down in your passion and commitment. Be careful not to allow the leaven of the Pharisee get into you. There are certain associations you need to deal with from arms length otherwise they would wreck your destiny. I pray your destiny will not be wrecked, in Jesus Name.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that I will not approach relationships by my power, or my might but only by the Spirit of the Lord, in Jesus Name. Amen!