Daily Encouragement: Day 240

From Handbook to Wisdom, Day 240

WE ARE RELATIONAL BEINGS

Jesus did not ask that the Father should take us out of the world,
but that He protect us from the evil one.
He prayed, “Father, I desire those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am,
that they may behold My glory,
the glory You have given Me
because You loved Me before the
foundation of the world.”
(John 17:15, 24)

When we were helpless, at the right time,
Christ died for the ungodly.
For rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,
though perhaps for a good man someone
would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love for us
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:6–8)

Because the infinite and personal God loves us, He wants us to grow in an intimate relationship with Him; indeed, this is the purpose for which we were created—to know, love, enjoy, and honor the triune Lord of all creation.

Since God is a relational being, the two great commandments of loving Him and expressing this love for Him by loving others are also intensely relational. We were created for fellowship and intimacy not only with God but also with each other. The relational implications of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity are profound. Since we were created in God’s image and likeness, we too are relational beings. The better we know God the better we know ourselves. A well-known prayer (sometimes attributed to St. Augustine) for this double knowledge, “May we know Thee, may we know ourselves,” reflects the truth that our union with Christ is now overcoming the alienation with God, with ourselves, and with others that occurred at the Fall.