If you want to be successful in life, you must learn how to be successful in your relationships. Success in life is synonymous with being successful in our relationships because so much of our lives involve other people. Our goal is to improve ourselves in the area of our human relationships, and God tells us how to do it in Galatians 5:14 from the Amplified Translation:
Galatians 5:14 (AMP)
For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.
When you find out what it means to “love your neighbor as you do yourself” and then apply that information to all the relationships in your life, you will be one step closer to becoming successful in life. Success in life is dependent upon being successful in your relationships. We are in relationships at work, we are in relationships at home, we are in relationships in our personal lives; therefore, success in life is synonymous with success in relationships.
Whoever you get in agreement with, that’s whose plan is going to come to pass in your life. The experience of your life is actually determined by the agreements (covenants) you enter into during the course of your life. (i.e. marriage, business partnerships, mortgage, car lease, credit cards, etc.)
The first person you must get in agreement with is God. You get in agreement with God by placing your faith in Jesus Christ. When you get in agreement with God, you not only become right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21), but the peace of God comes to make its home in your heart. Agreement with God equals peace.
Romans 5:1 (NKJV)
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
A relationship takes place when you get in agreement with God by placing your faith in Christ and confessing Jesus as Lord. Fellowship takes place when you stay in agreement with God by living on His frequency – by walking in love on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit shows you how to walk in love during your fellowship time with Him because He is the One who put the love of God in your heart when you got born again and became a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Romans 5:5 (NKJV)
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Notice that the phrase “has been poured out” is past tense. This phrase indicates a present status resulting from a past action. When you first placed your faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit poured out God’s love into your heart, and His love for you continues to dwell in you today.
As a result of your relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the God-kind of love dwells, abides, and makes its home in your heart, but it cannot be expressed until you yield to the Holy Spirit by confessing it and acting on it. One of the ways you act on God’s Word is by confessing God’s Word. Another way is by practicing it on a daily basis. You have to make a habit of confessing and practicing the love of God in your life, both toward yourself and toward others.
God’s love for you is constant and never ending. “Love your neighbor AS YOU DO YOURSELF…” You get in agreement with yourself by accepting the love that God has for you. You see yourself the way God sees you – in right standing with Him. Now let’s shift our focus to walking in love toward other people.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (AMP)
Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
Right in the middle of this verse is the challenge – people skills. In the midst of the storm, in the midst of challenging circumstances, we see both the cause and the solution – dealing effectively with people.
Challenges with people produce patience with people and patience with people produces character and character produces hope. (Romans 5:3-4) We do not let ourselves get disappointed with people because we see them through the eyes of love. The ability to do this comes from the love of God that has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It comes from the indwelling presence of Love, the indwelling presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives you a “believe the best” vision that causes you to see beyond the imperfections and limitations of the people who have disappointed you. By holding on to a “believe the best” image of those people, by faith you see the potential of those people, and you pray for them until God brings it to pass. That is the God-kind of love in action!
You can believe the best of people by seeing them conform to the image and likeness of Christ, which is how God not only sees them, but the way He sees you. You got saved because God believed the best of you! God aimed His faith at you; He saw your potential, even when you were disappointing Him. He believed that one day you would receive the Holy Spirit and be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ.
Hope will never disappoint us because no matter how discouraged we get, not matter how many disappointments we encounter in life, no matter how many challenges we have with people, we have the blessed assurance of our future destiny with God. Your future destiny is based on God’s love, which is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. God’s love was demonstrated to you in and through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because Christ died for you while you were still a sinner, you can love others sacrificially even when they hurt you, disappoint you, and let you down. You can believe the best of every person because God does!