In the beginning God created Eve, not only to help Adam, but to share his life. God put this need inside of Adam. God created us to have a relationship with Him, so much so that He wants us to have relationships with each other. A relationship is the process of give and take; we need to give as much as we need to take. Though people differ in their characters and cultures, they still share common characteristics that enable them to build relationships with one another. If you are facing difficult situations, or going on a hard journey, you will not feel the suffering as much if you have good company.
How People Can Develop Good Relationships With Each Other
To know and respect each other we must spend time together, seeing each other regularly and spontaneously. We need to have open and honest conversations, talking about things that are important to both of us. We should enjoy doing things and spending time together. We should pray with each other.
The key is to develop a strong friendship where we listen to each other. There is good back and forth communication. We need to look out for the needs of each other. We should not expect too much of the other, thus avoiding frustration or hurt. There needs to be borders- where love is not stifling, but there is room for freedom and respect for privacy. We need to be able to confront each other with love and gentleness. You can say no , as we are not always available all the time. There must be trust and transparency with the ability to forgive each other.
Why Relationships Are So Critical to Neighborhood Transformation (NT)
Relationships are central to Neighborhood Transformation, because without relationships we will never get started or succeed in transforming neighborhoods. NT is neighborhood based therefore built on neighbor knowing neighbor and having some relationship with each other. We define real community as being all about relationships. Nothing happens in NT without relationships. People must first know each other to develop relationships and if they are going to help their neighbor they need some level of relationship. People only help each other when there is some kind of relationship. A strong Network of people working together only comes through relationships.
A Funny Way to Get to Know Your Neighbors at a Neighborhood BBQ
