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Christ must be at the center of your relationships because He provides a stable, fixed point of reference; otherwise, your relationships will be frail and fragile.

Every relationship is based or founded on something. For example, some relationships are based on the fact that both people work for the same company, attend the same school, or sharing a similar interest in a hobby or sport.

With all of relationships, once a common bond is no longer present, the relationship will tend to deteriorate. For example, once a child graduates from high school and moves off to college, he or she will probably lose most of the relationships formed with classmates, because school is no longer a common bond and thus there is nothing holding the relationship together.

However, if your relationships are formed around a common belief in Christ, then no matter what else happens in life, as long as that common bond is still present those relationships will last.

Thus, it is clear why 2 Corinthians 6:14 instructs believers not to marry unbelievers: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

If you want to maintain lasting, stable relationships, they must be Christ-centered.

Do your relationships control you, or does Christ control your relationships?

God wants to be the most important thing in your life. Sadly, many Christians let the opinions of other people control their own decisions, altering what they consider to be important.

Proverbs 29:25 says, Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Your relationships with the people you're around could be a snare to you if let them control you. However, if Christ is more important to you than any relationship, then he will control your relationships, guiding you into right, godly ones. Make Christ first place in your heart, and he will control and direct your relationships.

The Western Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, providing Syriac news, spiritual guidance and leadership to the Syriac Orthodox community, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization comprised of 18 churches and parishes in 17 western states. It was established in 1952 as the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church encompassing the entire United States and Canada. In November 1995 by the Holy Synod of Antioch, the Western Archdiocese was formed to exclusively serve the 17 states of the western half United States.

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