On Monday, I promised to post some steps that you can take to move from side-by-side to face-to-face relationships.
At the risk of oversimplifying it comes down to a couple things, be intentional and set expectations. But here are some more details:
- Pray about it. Is there someone you want to take this step with? Ask God to confirm that for you.
- Ask. Set up a time to meet and ask them if they are interested in a face to face relationship. You may have to help them define what you are looking for and even why.
- Give them time to pray about it.
- Get specific. Answer some of these questions. Your relationship doesn’t have to include all these areas, but be clear about what it will and won’t include. If this is new to you, don’t get too intimidated by all of this. Start with 1 or 2 questions and go from there.
- When, where, how often and for how long will we meet? Weekly? Monthly? For an hour? For 30 minutes?
- How long are we committing to doing this? 6 months? A year? Forever?
- Will we read the Bible together? Will we go through a spiritual growth or discipleship book together?
- Will we talk about our quiet times and what God is teaching us in them?
- Will we talk about our prayer life?
- What do we want to hold each other accountable on? Bible reading? Prayer? Reoccurring sins? Rhythms?
- Are there questions we will ask each other on a regular basis? How is your relationship with your spouse? With your kids? Who are you investing in that is far from God?
Once we have established the relationships, what do we do?
- Be open and honest. Don’t waste your time on this if you are going to fake it. If you don’t feel like you can be open and honest, you need to examine where you are at or you need to pick a new relationship.
- Be confidential. Obviously, you will be sharing and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. You definitely want to be able to trust each other.
- Be Flexible. A plan is great and you should follow it, but don’t let the plan get in the way of what God is doing at any specific meeting.
- Revisit it. What works today may not work in a month or 6 months. Maybe there is an issue that is not a big deal in a certain season but is later. Don’t get in a rut. Doing exactly the same thing over and over again often causes a great thing to lose its effectiveness. Even the best laid plans are worth modifying at after a while.
- Don’t lose site of the goal. Don’t let the relationship itself take priority over the reason for the relationship. To grow to be more like Christ.
Just take a step. Even if it's a small one, it's a step. Make this the year that you get into some intentional relationships with people who will help you take faith steps.
Also, don't miss this weekend! We're going to look at being Rescued from Greed...it's about money, and a lot more!
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