OVERCOMING UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
and the only One that can bring you into that relationship. He is our strength, our peace, and our hope.
When we stray from this relationship with God and choose not to focus on it, the weaker our connection to Him. Notice when I said “when we stray”; God never strays from us. There have been times in my life where I did not do a daily devotion, did not pray for days at a time, and just came home, turned on the television, and vegged out. Over time, I found myself asking where God was and if He heard me when I prayed. I had strayed from my relationship with Him. Do this for a day or two, and you know it. Do this for a month, and everyone close to you knows it. Do it for a year, and everyone can see it.
The Lure of Unhealthy Relationships
Hopefully, now we can better discern if there are unhealthy relationships that we may need to disconnect from. This is easier said than done! What is it that draws us toward unhealthy relationships?
This question has baffled me for many years. I now know that I choose the relationships in my life that I will invest in and which ones I need to let go of. As I get older, I realize that I don’t have time to battle with unhealthy relationships.
Growing up and in college, the draw for many of us is to be accepted. If we become desperate enough, we can compromise our own convictions to feel accepted. Fear of rejection becomes one of the top reasons, in my opinion, for why we are drawn to unhealthy relationships.
We can also be enticed to enter into unhealthy relationships when we want to do something that makes us feel good, and we willingly push aside our convictions to get that feeling. We allow our emotions to drive our decisions in life and can end up neglecting our relationship with God and shy away from healthy relationships that encourage us toward healthy living.
Some of us grew up around dysfunction and abuse; it’s all we know. This actually may require some professional help through a counselor or therapist who draws from the Bible for wisdom to determine who or what is holding us back. Others of us are drawn away by sinful actions that we choose to be a part of, knowing they negatively affect our relationship with God and the healthy relationships in our lives.
All of us at some point, or even now, have made a choice or are making a decision, allowing negative, unhealthy relationships to influence us. It is what we do about it that matters.