Relational

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10: 24-25 NKJV

How outgoing are you?  How willing are you to open yourself up to others and share your experiences, to share Jesus?  As for myself, I've fallen way short of opening myself up to others.  We come up with plenty of excuses to justify not interacting with others, some can be  downright ridiculous.  What it comes down to is  opening ourselves up to other people.  However, other people can do and say hurtful things.  I only need to look at my own life to see where I've fallen short in mistreating others around me.  Now, I know in my heart that I've confessed these transgressions and that I'm forgiven, but would that be any consolation to someone I've mistreated?  In their eyes, I'm probably just another pious christian.  Unless I've spent the time to open myself up to these people, they may even put that label upon every christian they meet.  How is it that I am making disciples and advancing Gods kingdom?
Jesus made it look pretty easy didn't he?  As he walked the paths of that region of Galilee he would call out to those he chose to follow him.  Whether it was the sick or a woman caught in the sin of adultry, Jesus met people exactly where they were.   Yes, we can learn alot from how Jesus interacted with those around him, but in the end we still need to put it into practice.  So, in the end that puts that wand squarely back in our hands.  Knowing that those people around us are capable of mistreating us just as we've mistreated others can leave us in fear of opening ourselves up to others.  It did with me.  Every day of his ministry, Jesus was faced with those who challanged him, argued with him, hated him.  Is it any different for us today?  Throughout our day, we are faced with the sinful nature of those around us.  Heck, we may even be the cause of the mistreatment others give us!  Do we suck it up, bury our pride and insecurities and reach out or do we simply retreat?
There can be no question that God created us to be social creatures, not only having relationships with one another but with our creator as well.  I'm sure there's alot of people out there who live in fear of opening themselves to others.  That was me.  It takes trust to open yourself up to others, and sometimes trust is hard to come by.  One thing we can be certain of, people may let us down, but Jesus has promised to never leave us.

~Scott~