Getting along with other people, shouldn’t be difficult considering that humans are social creatures. But human beings have a sin problem; to go along with that social craving that can get in the way. As Jer. 17: 9 states “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it”(ESV)? But all is not lost; it is possible to get along even with the most difficult among us. Wright (1989) stated, “…the three most vital qualities for getting along with people are genuineness, love, and empathy” (p.1).
Looking at the first quality genuineness, it can be defined by saying that one is truly acting from the heart. Wright (1989) says “A genuine person is able to express his true feelings in appropriate ways, rather than …show more content…
To love someone means to wish for and work for that person’s best interests, and to seek God’s blessing upon him or her—whether or not we like that person”(p.2)! In marriage of course the two people like each other, but that does not mean that conflict will not arise. Even the best of marriages will encounter conflict and require one person to sacrifice for the sake of the relationship as Impett, Javam, Le, Asyabi-Eshghi, and Kogan (2013) noted “A hallmark of satisfying and long –lasting relationships is the extent to which partners are willing to sacrifice their own interests and desires for each other and for the sake of their relationship (see review by Impett & Gordon 2006)”(p. 740). Maybe they didn’t know it, but sacrifice is an element of love as Jesus told us in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”(ESV). The reason that I equate love and marriage is that this is my fifth year of being married, my wife and I married each other at the age of forty, and we both had a lot to learn about love, and the sacrificing part of love in a relationship. My pastor told us, before he married us, “Marriage is not designed to make you both happy, but to make you both holy” After five years we both now understand what he meant by that, and we understand love a bit better
Looking at the first quality genuineness, it can be defined by saying that one is truly acting from the heart. Wright (1989) says “A genuine person is able to express his true feelings in appropriate ways, rather than …show more content…
To love someone means to wish for and work for that person’s best interests, and to seek God’s blessing upon him or her—whether or not we like that person”(p.2)! In marriage of course the two people like each other, but that does not mean that conflict will not arise. Even the best of marriages will encounter conflict and require one person to sacrifice for the sake of the relationship as Impett, Javam, Le, Asyabi-Eshghi, and Kogan (2013) noted “A hallmark of satisfying and long –lasting relationships is the extent to which partners are willing to sacrifice their own interests and desires for each other and for the sake of their relationship (see review by Impett & Gordon 2006)”(p. 740). Maybe they didn’t know it, but sacrifice is an element of love as Jesus told us in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son…”(ESV). The reason that I equate love and marriage is that this is my fifth year of being married, my wife and I married each other at the age of forty, and we both had a lot to learn about love, and the sacrificing part of love in a relationship. My pastor told us, before he married us, “Marriage is not designed to make you both happy, but to make you both holy” After five years we both now understand what he meant by that, and we understand love a bit better