Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Proverbs 25:17 NIV; Proverbs 19:2b NLT
Today, I want to talk to you about relationships like I did last time, and will for the next few times, because relationships are so important. They determine the direction of our life and the satisfaction of our life. With COVID and things opening up, relationships are kind of getting more back to normal, we're seeing more people, we're going to need skills and wisdom on how to manage relationships. So today, I want to talk to you about this principle, you need more "easy-does-it relationships". Easy-does-it, take it easy, calm down, and here's what I mean by that - sometimes, people get into a relationship and they go from zero to 60 faster than a Lamborghini and that's not good. A relationship that moves too fast, is not going to be a reliable, solid relationship. So when you start to make a friend by being a friend, which was our last life lifter, you have to learn how to pace a relationship.
Most people struggle with pacing a relationship. Do you think most people go too fast in a relationship or too slow today? The answer is too fast. Most people go way too fast. They go on a first date, and somebody wants to plan the wedding, it's a little too fast. I know somebody that met someone and got married within two weeks of meeting them, a little too far, too fast. And then sometimes people go way too slow. And so you have to learn how to pace a relationship.
In other words, go a little step, and then wait and then go another step. But don't try to go ten steps in a relationship when you should only take one step at a time. I get that from a couple verses in the book of Proverbs, which speaks so much about relationships with some of these doozies. Proverbs 25:17 says "seldom set foot and your neighbor's house, too much of you, and he will hate you". I have a great next door neighbors. One of my next door neighbors, he's such a great guy and he's really good at everything. So whenever I have something that needs repair, I go "Hey, Mike, can you take a look at this?" and my wife would say "would you stop bugging Mike?". Too much in your neighbor's house and he will be sick of you, not sick of me because I give him little gifts and everything. But you got to be careful not to keep engaging a relationship too fast. Now, if you're really, really super friends, you can do that, but that takes time. There's no substitute for time. You have to pace relationships.
Here's another one. Proverbs 19:2, "A person who moves too quickly, may go the wrong way". And here's what I found, a lot of people that don't pace relationships that move too quickly, who don't have an easy-does-it-view of relationships, they get in trouble. They do things in that relationship they shouldn't do. They share things in that relationship they shouldn't share. They give up things in that relationship that they shouldn't give up. They trust in that relationship, things they shouldn't trust. And it's because you have not learned to take it easy. Take it easy. There's always tomorrow for that relationship.
Are you pacing your relationships appropriately? Are you moving too quickly in any relationship? Back off, slow it down. You can go too fast in a relationship by sharing too much too quickly, by meeting too often, so many different ways you can go too fast in a relationship. Maybe some of you just need to hear "take it easy". Take it easy. I'm not talking about loving people, I'm just talking about going too fast in a relationship. Relationships are like a fine wine, they only get better with time and I hope you'll do that.
Father, I pray that if there's anybody that may be moving too fast or perhaps even too slow in a relationship give them the wisdom to pace it. Give them the wisdom to know not to move too quickly, not to always be at the person's house or in the person's world, but to pace it, to have an easy-does-it view. Help them to know when to do one or the other. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, easy does it have a great day!
