One of the problems with being too busy is that we easily lose sight of our priorities. Everything seems of equal value. In some cases things of lesser value get higher priority than things of greater value. For example, rushing to take advantage of a sale at Home Depot (or Target!) clouds your devotional time on Saturday morning. Checking email competes with talking to your spouse.
Relationships are one of those important things that are often shoved aside in pursuit of usually urgent, but less important things…including less important relationships. Our relationships are very important to God because they are vital to our growth in the likeness of His Son and thus the beauty of the bride of Christ! For both reasons, we should be much more intentional about pursuing relationships. God’s Word has provided clear principles for use in prioritizing our relationships.
Check out this simple “Covenant Spheres” graphic (and scriptural justification) excerpted from You Are Ministers*.
Before you go to the graphic, take a few moments and on a sheet of paper list four people with whom you have some sort of relationship. Next to each name, write down how much time you’ve spent in face-to-face communication over the past week. Next to that, rate on a 1 to 10 scale (1 being low, 10 being high) the spiritual depth of each relationship. THEN look at the graphic.
After looking at the graphic and doing a little comparison, you may discover that the relationships where you spend the most time are a bit out of sync with God’s priorities. Perhaps you discover that the relationships where you spend the most time may be in proper order, but not have a strong spiritual focus. Or you may discover that the ones that should be most important to you really aren’t all that important.
We should seek relationships in each sphere depicted in the graphic. However, they are not of equal importance. The graphic helps us prioritize our relationships so that we can ensure that we’re generally focusing the most time on the most important relationships.
As an elder, consider that this simple tool gives you something practical to discuss with your Heads of Household that will help them think clearly about their relationships and leadership priorities.
The same is true for husbands and wives and their children. The Covenant Spheres graphic offers a tremendous opportunity for discussion about a very important part of our Christian lives: our relationships!
*You Are Ministers will help church leaders and home leaders build relationships that transform lives. Order your copy today!