Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 738 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Value of Relationships – Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 738 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

As we continue on this trek called life sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, you are not able to.

No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas. We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.

As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is my goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions. So please submit your questions to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com, send me a message at the bottom of any page on wisdom-trek.com, or text me at 740.350.5732. And I will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This past week I was in Arizona working on our construction project. It was a very busy, productive week, and we were able to lay out the “Schedule of Values” for the entirety of Phase II.

I am sure that we will have some modifications and adjustments, but we made very good progress. Just like we create a schedule of the values within a project, we personally need to take the time to create values within a relationship, especially with a spouse or close friend. So the question for today is…

“Hey Gramps, how can I create a valuable relationship with my spouse or close friend?”

The Value of Relationships

Before you can value others properly, you must first value yourself. You will never love or value another person fully if you feel that you are not valuable and loved. In order to do this, you must understand that your value is not necessarily based on who you are or what you have accomplished up to this point in your life, but whose you are.

As Christ followers, we are created by God to be bearers of His image. The Apostle Paul instructs us in Ephesians 2:8-10, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”Once you understand that your value is based on the fact that God made you and considers you valuable, then you can realize that you are truly valuable. Jesus explained the concept of how important it is for us to love ourselves so that we can properly love others. Mark 12:30-31 says, “‘And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Paul drills down even further when he says in Galatians 5:14, “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

So it begs the question, how can you love others if you do not love yourself?  You can’t.  If we all practiced this verse, there would be few problems in the world.

The relationship between a husband and wife goes even deeper because this is an intimate and very close relationship. So the love must go much deeper. The fact is the same, though. If you do not value yourself, then you cannot value your spouse fully.  This is a very serious matter. There is so much conflict in marriages because we do not respect and love ourselves properly, but instead, we are selfish and cruel.

Love is never selfish or cruel under any circumstances, but I realize that this is a two-way street, especially in a marriage. That is why Paul gives us a blueprint for a successful, fulfilling marriage. It is found in Ephesians [5:21]-33 and says:  

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.  As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.  For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.  In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.  No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.  And we are members of his body.  As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”  This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

There is certainly a lot to unwrap in that passage, but we may leave that for another time. Let me summarize it for today’s question. Both husband and wife must be willing to submit to one another. Wives, your husband’s greatest need is to be respected and trusted. Husbands your wives greatest need is your love and security.  In fact, if husbands loved their wives as Christ loves the church, there would be very few issues within a marriage. That is my prayer daily – that I will love Paula as Christ loves the church.

This is a deep question, and we may expand on it further in the future. If you desire valuable, fulfilling relationships remember that the entire law is summed up in two statements. Love God, Love Others. I might add that to do this you must properly value and love yourself. You are God’s Masterpiece!

Next week we will have another question to “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer any questions you may have about life and will provide you with practical wisdom about any area of life. Please submit questions that you have to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com, and Gramps will answer them on our Friday podcast with wisdom and philosophy that he has gained over the years of experience and study.

I know you will find these insights interesting, practical, and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life. Our next trek is Mindshift Monday where we will help you live differently by thinking differently. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of the past 737 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com.  You can also subscribe through iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you on Monday!