Every generation has their classics, and I just happened to belong to the generation that had both references to the Golden Oldies, and illegal downloads off of high-speed internet connections.
So, yeah, while we had Cable TV for a while, eventually we were the same generation that started torrenting, and that’s when we had the opportunity to go back – not just to the 90’s, but to the 80’s, way back to the 60’s.Our ‘spread’ of what we called the classics was stretched back that much…
…and with that said, sure, we were blessed with classics like The Godfather Trilogy, Raging Bull, Gone With The Wind, The Sound Of Music, while at the same time enjoying what we called contemporary classics – The Rocky Series, The Goonies, The original noir-style Batman Animated Series, and so on.
I say all of this, if only to share a line we used to say a lot, especially when we started talking about Al Pacino in Scarface. That’s right, he went from being the smooth, cold, calculating Michael Corleone to the brash Cubano Tony Montana – and his character had this to say to the eventual antagonist, the Columbian Alejandro Sosa, right after he attempted to intimidate Tony:
“In this life all that I have is my word and my balls and I do not break them for nobody.”
So, yeah, not all of us have balls, but we all have our word – and like Tony, we shouldn’t be breaking our word for anyone.
That’s the gist when it comes to having reliability, or as I’m going to call it from here on out, being trustworthy – we have our word, we keep our word.
We keep our promises. We keep our loyalties.
And we can actually end there, and say that’s what it means to be reliable and trustworthy… But I go back to what our good Pastor Poppo said – that is, his wisdom when it came to starting, maintaining, and improving relationships.
Because it’s true – we’re not going to keep all our promises. We’re not always going to be loyal. We’re going to break our word. We’re going to break our balls, if we have them. We will always have an issue every now and then…
…But, as Pastor Poppo says, ever so simply – ‘i-tissue mo ang issue’. In other words, turn the issue into tissue. Don’t make it bigger than it really is, and, actually, be willing to lose the issue if needs be… if only to maintain the relationship.
And that’s what it is – We’re reliable when we prioritize the relationship.
Yes, it’s not about our own perspective on our own integrity. If we’re honest, we can’t be the judge of our own reliability – it’s our relationships that define that…
…and with that said, I go ahead and share what may be one of, if not THE most significant verses we have when it comes to relationships. We’ve come a long way from the classics of the Old Testament:
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”Mark 12:28-31
Today, we’re being given two new commandments, out of the New Covenant that Christ paid a great price for us to be in:
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”John 6:28-29
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”John 13:34-35
To believe that we believe in Him who God has sent is to believe in Jesus Christ. When we say we believe in Jesus Christ we are saying, among a host of other things, that He is the representation of God’s everlasting love for us.
So with all this being said, we approach all our relationships with two things in mind:
Moving from loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, we’re believing in whom He has sent, Jesus Christ; Who, through His finished work, demonstrated that it was God who loved us FIRST, literally, with all HIS heart, HIS mind, HIS soul, and HIS strength…
And, moving from loving one another as we love ourselves, we’re loving each other as He loved us.
So, what’s all this pointing to? Well, because of Christ, we’re able to see how God loves us, and from that love we’re able to love one another – between boss and employee, brother and sister, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, mother and daughter, worship team member to worship team member, and so on.
God’s love is what allows our relationships to thrive… and it’s what allows us not only to be supportive with one another, but to actually be trustworthy… to actually be reliable.
Bottom line: We are trustworthy because God’s love is trustworthy. We are reliable because Christ is reliable.
Father, thank You for Jesus Christ, who is the demonstration of Your everlasting, and trustworthy, reliable love. Continue to shine His light and love in our lives, and our relationships. In His name we pray, amen.
Questions:
How can you factor God’s love in your own relationships with each other?
We said that we are reliable because Christ is reliable – how do you see this Truth working in your own social interactions?
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