It's not about rules, or doing things right, or religious practices and rituals...it's about loving God and Him loving us.

WHY IS UNDERSTANDING THIS TRUTH IMPORTANT?

When we try to live the Christian life without putting God at the center of it, it just doesn't work. Not only will we become frustrated and bored, but we will probably annoy and frustrate others in the process.

Common "symptoms" of living the Christian life without God: going through the motions of Christianity; “dryness” or boredom in our Christian walk; giving up in our faith because “I don’t need God in order to be a good person”, or “I don’t like all the rules”; and having a self-righteous attitude towards others.

Christianity gets ugly when it centers around anything other than our relationship with God.

THE TRUTH: IT'S ALL ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

God intended us to live out our faith with Him as our friend. Jesus died so that this relationship could take place, and it is the most significant truth we are to base our spiritual journey on.

People often mistakenly think that Christianity is about being good, or going to heaven, or having a happy life, but the real point of our faith is a relationship with God. Sometimes even those who have been in that relationship can get distracted by things like church, and Bible studies, and doing things for God that they forget to cultivate a relationship with their Creator!

God wants to be our friend. That’s an amazing truth, if you really think about it! He doesn’t just want to be our lord, our provider, our father…He also wants to be our friend. He wants us to enjoy Him as much as He enjoys us. John 13-15 talks about Jesus love for us:

John 14.18, 21 – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 15.9 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

John 15.12-16 – “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last…”

It can sometimes be difficult for people to understand what a relationship with God is like if they haven’t experienced it for themselves. Even though God isn’t a physical person we can see, our relationship with Him is much the same as a relationship with anyone else. We can enjoy His company, spend time with Him, trust Him, be honest and genuine with Him, talk about things we’re excited or frustrated about…just look at any of your good friendships with people and it can be an example of how to relate to God.

When we are in a close relationship with God, our faith will fall into place and make sense. It is the foundational principle to living the Christian life. So many times people worry about their walk – they worry about bearing fruit, or listening to the Holy Spirit, or making sure they know God’s will – that they ignore this relationship with God. Not that these things aren’t important, but many of them will be taken care of when your relationship with God is as it should be.

The next section, GROWTH, covers some practical things we can do to grow and deepen this relationship with God.

How do I have a relationship with someone I can't see or touch?