This blog post was inspired by the new book by Karen Ehman titled, Listen, Love, Repeat which releases on November 15, 2016 you can purchase a copy at http://listenloverepeatbook.com.

From the beginning of time, the idea of relationships played an important part in our human existence.  One of the first  acts of God was to create a companion for Adam.  Why do you think that was? Scripture answers this question in Genesis 2:18 where God stated “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” A helper and his partner; clearly this was God’s initial design for loving relationships.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that relationships teach us a lesson or challenges us to show His love to a hurting world. Sometimes I fail – fail miserably – at these teachable moments and other times I don’t even realize that I’ve done the work of God.  For many years, finding the balance between serving others and taking care of myself has been my greatest challenge.  I always felt that I was failing on one side whenever I served the other.  To understand this balance, I’ve come to believe, you must be grounded in God’s Word.  You wouldn’t go on an unknown journey without a map or directions would you? Being guided and repeating the directions, gives us a sense of familiarity for the unknown.  Before you know it, traveling that path becomes second nature because we have faith in where it brings us.  The same is true with scripture – when you come across a life challenge, you can recall God’s promises and directions in how to tackle the challenge.  You don’t have to go out and seek opportunities – God places them in your path every day.

Did you know that the bible gives us 39 lessons on relationship building?  Yep, 39 lessons on how to love from your heart, ways to encourage, how to honor, how to serve, and promote harmony.  In a hurting world, there’s no lack of opportunities. We are certainly living in “selfie-centered” times.  How do we promote other-centered living in a self-centered world? We LiveLoveRepeat!

Scripture guides us to “making choices that align with our priorities and help us sort through the decision making process” (Listen, Love, Repeat ~ Karen Ehman).

Karen Ehman’s new book, Listen, Love, Repeat, is teaching me to listen better to the parts of the world God places in my life, to love others as He loves them, and to make it a practice to repeat this process every day.