“Instead of thinking about friendship or marriage as relationships with intrinsic value, we [sometimes] look to them as a means of fulfilling our needs. When the needs are no longer satisfied by that relationship, we discard it and move on to another that we believe will be a better use of our resources.” [Wilkens & Sanford]
This quote is a description of how relationships are sometimes approached in our culture. Some of us could probably think of specific examples in our lives when we’ve witnessed or, perhaps, even experienced what is described above.
God’s intention is not that friendships & relationships would be “tools” which we utilize for the fulfillment of our needs but rather that they would be understood to be connections of utmost significance and value to us—that we would see relationships as something precious and important—based on the realization that every person we encounter is made in the image of God and is loved and valued by God.
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