Relational Tipping Points

There will come a day indeed, but until that day I invite you to grab your message notes with the logo, "The Art of Living Well." We're in a study in a book of the Bible called Proverbs, which is all about living wisely. And today we're going to look at things Proverbs say tips a relationship one way or the other, better or for worse what I'm calling relational tipping points.

For example, a husband storms up the front door after a heated argument with his wife, never to enter that home or the marriage the same way again. A wife strikes up a friendship with a co-worker. It's innocent at first, but over the days and weeks to come she begins to feel like the co-worker understands her better than her husband ever has. A teenager shares a deep private secret with a friend only to find out days later it's been spread all over the school campus. In each instance and without even recognizing it in the moment, each one of these relationships has hit a tipping point.

In other instances the tip may happen for the better. It could happen on the heels of the simple words, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Or lead to profound joy such as when a college football star reaches out to a seven-year-old boy suffering with brain cancer. More about that later. But it can happen in any number of ways where a relationship begins to tip.

You may recall a book that was released a couple years ago called The Tipping Point. This book was so successful that the term tipping point has become a shop-worn term ever since. But one of my takeaways from this book is how complex factors can come together in just the right way to create a so-called tipping point. And some of these factors you can identify, but others are elusive and organic. And you come to understand a lot more in hindsight than you ever could in the moment.

And this is certainly the case when it comes to relationships. This is why I'm using this tipping point concept as a guiding metaphor because relationships are never static. There's no autopilot. They're either intentionally building up, nurturing our relationships, or misunderstanding, neglect, or some other trigger begins to tip a relationship downhill.

I want you to take a look at that teeter-totter at the top of your notes and ask yourself, "Which way do I tip?" Now of course, few of any or any of us would put all of our relationships on one side or the other. And to stack all of them on there, which one, which way would it tip? Would it tip towards troubled relationships or would it tip towards healthy relationships?

Whatever the answer, we need to be clear. Every relationship requires that two people each do their part. You only have control over one. Ever been in a canoe? I mean, in the best of circumstances, with both people rowing together, it's hard to keep those things going straight, isn't it? What if one person just stops paddling all together or decides to paddle in a different direction? Well, you get the picture. It's chaos.

Some of you, if you have relationships that are in trouble, you probably have a part in that, but you certainly don't bear all of the responsibility. And on the other hand, if your relationships are mostly healthy, that probably says something about you, but it surely says something about the people you're in relationship as well.

That said, let's look at four things that Proverbs says will tip a relationship one way or the other. And there's no way that we can cover everything that can be said about relationships. Proverbs doesn't even attempt to do that. I'm certainly not going to attempt to do that today.

But what I did this week was reread the entire book of Proverbs. And along the way, when I saw Proverbs that talked about either strengthening, building a relationship up, or tearing a relationship down, I made note of those. And four things really rose to the top. Actually, there was five things. The fifth one is sex. And since René's going to address that in a sermon in this series a little bit later, I'm just going to let him tackle that one all by himself, okay?

But of the four remaining, the first one Proverbs probably talks about more than anything else, and that's the tongue. You cannot read Proverbs without noticing the emphasis on what it puts on the things that come out of our mouth. In fact, I did a search with terms having to do with speech in Proverbs. I got close to 90 hits. That averages out to about three mentions per chapter in Proverbs about our choice of words.

So the first question we need to ask ourselves is, "Is my tongue reckless or restrained?" Now the writers of Proverbs understand that we all have our high and low moments, but what's my tendency? And it's not like you have to be tearing into people on a daily basis to begin to develop a reputation. Words are powerful, so just a few barbs can leave a lasting impression.

Like Proverbs 12:18 says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Ever have somebody's words just cut you right to the quick? I can remember when I was in seventh grade, I was at a junior high dance. It was around Christmas time, and there was a girl that we all knew who was standing conspicuously under the mistletoe. And something tells me that they don't do mistletoe at junior high dances anymore, but this was a while ago, and she's kissing one boy after the next.

And so about five of my friends, they get in line because, I mean, after all, when you're a seventh grade boy, hey, this is a pretty exciting opportunity. And so I put myself in line, and she's kissing this guy and kissing that guy, and it's nothing more than that. It's all innocent. I mean, probably more kooties being passed than seventh graders like to think about in that moment, but it's fairly innocent.

And suddenly I'm on deck, I'm getting nervous, you know, standing in their wedding, and now it's my turn. I purse my lips, careful to cover up every single one of my braces. The band is just murdering Stairway to Heaven, but it doesn't matter because I'm under the mistletoe with a girl who's about to plant a kiss on my little freckled face when all of a sudden she goes, "Ew." I don't want to kiss Spurlock. I'm like, "Okay, well, I'm just here to say hi. All got to go now." You know, the band Bon Jovi wrote a song called Shot Through the Heart. Pretty much sums up that moment in my life.

Now in retrospect, I can say in all honesty and without any bitterness that it probably all worked out for the best because you know that girl today as Roseanne Barr. Just kidding. But in that moment, man, those words, they just pierced like a sword. But the tongue of the wise brings healing. Can you think of a person who has spoken wise words to you in the midst of deep grief? I sure can.

In fact, in every single grief that I've been in in life, I can specifically recall a person speaking wise words. Now some people said some pretty lame things too, but the wise words were so instrumental to the healing and that's because as Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit." Great little word picture here because some fruit will sustain you, will give you life, but other fruit can sicken you, even kill you.

And the suggestion here is that we ultimately make a choice about which fruit we love the most, one type of fruit or the other. And before we leave this area, Proverbs also has a lot to say about the flattering tongue, the smooth tongue that's also untrustworthy. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A gossip separates close friends." So this is a big issue, this matter of the tongue.

And sometimes we try to justify ourselves by saying, "Well, you know, I'm not as bad as so-and-so. I mean, man, you should have heard my old man. I mean, whoa, talk about a tongue." Or "Well, I don't talk about people like to bring them down. I was just sharing a concern." Or you know, "I just call it like I see it. I'm a straight shooter." Well, that may be. But wisdom says, "Choose your words carefully." Speak the truth, but at the right times, with the right motives in love, because death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Second question Proverbs raises about what tips a relationship is that am I defensive or correctable? Several times in the Gospels, Jesus says this phrase. He says, "He who has ears to hear, let him listen." And Proverbs is getting at the same thing. Am I open to correction? Am I teachable or do I tend to get peeved whenever someone offers even the slightest critique? I don't like that.

Proverbs 12:1 says, "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid." I like that. Now, my apologies to all you parents who have told your kids that they can't say the word "stupid," only to see it here in the Bible. If you prefer, one scholar I read this week translates the Hebrew word "stupid" here as "ignoramus." I don't know that that's a whole lot better.

By the way, the word "discipline" here isn't referring to like personal discipline, like you know, you like to do P90X or something like that. It's talking about the discipline you received, you know, as a child, correction. And this word in the original has to do with when a donkey is tethered or in harness, because discipline restrains us. It holds us back. You could say that discipline keeps us from becoming too much of a donkey, or you know the other word for donkey.

Now, moving on. Proverbs 15:12 says, "Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise." And in Proverbs, mockers are really the worst kind of fools because they don't just resist correction, they don't even think they need it. They're above correction. I mean, they've arrived. That's why they feel entitled to mock everybody else. Proverbs 15:31 says, "Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise." The difference of the tip on the teeter-totter here is that the mocker ends up isolated by their own doing, because they're not correctable.

But the person who is correctable, not only do they grow in wisdom, but they find community. They find a home among the wise. Now this only seems kind of basic. I think I learned this in Sunday school one time, Mark. But here's the reality. It's these kinds of very basic issues that will tip our relationships one way or the other. "I'm not a wuss, but little by little, which way I tend to go on these things will make a huge difference." So it's wise to ask ourselves, you know, in general, is my tongue reckless or restrained? Am I defensive or correctable?

And number three, am I hot-tempered or even-tempered? And if you're detecting a theme here, it's that one of the hallmarks of wisdom is the ability to regulate one's emotions, to control my impulses. And it's not that you never get angry, but when you do, it's for the right reasons. I mean, does God get angry? Of course He does. He gets angry at sin, at evil, at injustice. So there is righteous anger. We're not talking about emptying ourselves of all passion. Wisdom doesn't mean that you become a Vulcan like Mr. Spock.

Wisdom just means you're able to regulate your anger. Proverbs 15:18 says, "A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel." Proverbs 29:11 says, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." Proverbs 20:30 says, "It is to one's honor to avoid strife. That every fool is quick to quarrel." Now if you struggle with a hot temper, I probably don't need to convince you how destructive it is to your relationships. You probably know that all too well.

What I'd like to suggest to you is that you get help for it. Two things, very simple I'd like to suggest, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. But the first would be, I thought René did an excellent, excellent sermon on this subject of anger back in February, part of this series. It's called "Taming My Temper." You can listen to it for free at our website, tlc.org, or for a couple bucks you can pick up the CD or the DVD. I highly recommend it.

Second suggestion is this, for this or any other destructive habit, I strongly encourage you to check out our Monday night recovery group. And before you tune me out, let me just say this is a broad-based group of people who are recovering from a number of things. Yes, there are folks that have alcohol and drug issues that they are recovering from, but there's also people who simply know that they work too much or they worry too much. And there's also people who are there for whom the problem is anger, and that anger is an addictive behavior.

But these brave folks have had the humility to admit they need help, and they are tired of being the spark that burns down the house. And so I have nothing but the highest admiration for them. There can come a tipping point in your life on this or other issues if you're willing to avail yourself to the help that God offers. And one of those helps is Monday nights, 7 p.m., here at Twin Lakes Church. I strongly urge you to check this out. It may be your time and opportunity to begin to see things tip in a better direction.

Final question, am I holding grudges or giving grace? Let's face it. Every so often, somebody's gonna do something, say something that's really gonna tick you off. This is a fact of life. And you know what? Every so often, you're gonna say something or do something that's gonna tick other people off. And so what do we do with all this tension that is inevitable? Because conflict is inevitable between imperfect people and we're all imperfect.

Now the temptation, unless you're just kind of like a volcano, is to be more subtle, to harbor ill will in your heart. Maybe you didn't blow your stack. Maybe you didn't rake that person over the coals. Because again, you're a little bit more subtle than that and you harbor ill will in your heart towards this person as you hold the grudge, as you nourish the bitterness. And you think to yourself, "You know, it wouldn't really break my heart if they got taken down a couple notches." Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if they were to just kind of, you know, get their comeuppance.

And again, we'd never say this, but it's hidden there in our hearts. Whether this feeling is overt or it's quiet and hidden, Proverbs 24:17–18 warn, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls. When he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him." Now why would God turn his wrath away from somebody who deserves it? At least temporarily. Well, it's because when we're happy about someone else's misfortune or when judgment or discipline comes upon them, God doesn't want us in the bleachers cheering him on like, "Yes." You know, they finally got theirs.

In fact, God is not going to allow himself to be like our personal gladiator where we're like, "Okay, God, here we go. Yeah, get them. You know, smite that person, Lord. That would make me happy." God's just not going to abide that because you know what? When we do that, that's the servant trying to tell the Lord what to do. There's a lot I don't know about the Lord, but I have a feeling that's not going to fly.

Instead Proverbs 25:21–22 says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he's thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you." In other words, give your enemy grace. You see, it's not enough to say, "You know what? I'm just going to tune that person out. You know, they're just not going to exist to me." The gospel says, "No. Help that person. Give them grace. Indifference is not the same as extending grace."

And by the way, those hot coals mentioned here, this isn't some sort of, you know, passive aggressive payback that this is talking about. It's talking about the eventual feelings, the pangs of remorse that a person feels when they realize they're receiving grace and kindness from a person that they've mistreated. And it doesn't necessarily happen overnight or you might not even get the satisfaction of this person coming to you and saying, "Man, I'm sorry. I've been a jerk to you." But this is what Proverbs tells us will eventually happen. That grace will lead, that kindness will lead to their repentance.

This is such a big idea that the Apostle Paul writing in Romans 12, he actually quotes this proverb and then he says, "Never avenge yourselves but leave room for the wrath of God." And what does God say? God says, "Vengeance is mine. Nobody else's. Vengeance is way above our pay grade." God reserves it solely for Himself. And so Paul ends Romans 12 saying, "Do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good." Because listen to this, if you hear nothing else, when we hold on to grudges, the bitterness will overtake us. Every time, there are no exceptions.

We allow ourselves to go down that road and we will end up becoming the very thing that we resent. And all of this drives us, these tipping points, drives us to ask maybe a more basic question which is this, what typically causes me to tip one direction or the other? Whether it's my mouth or my stubbornness or my anger, what's at the root? Well, let's just take the issue that we just saw in terms of holding grudges.

Think about this. In order to stand in that place where I demand satisfaction, where I feel entitled to revenge, don't I have to adopt a sense of superiority in the process? Don't I have to see myself occupying the higher ground where I can look down at that person and say, "You know, I'm better than that person." That's what's at the root of it. And so ultimately, behind my grudge is my pride. That's the root.

And again, I'm not saying that you can just go through this process in a day or a week or it might take years, but ultimately, we make a decision whether to let it go or to hold on to the grudge and that choice to hold on is rooted in pride. Same thing can be said about the other things that are on the left side of page one, the things that tip relationships downhill. Whether it's the harsh tongue that lashes out in pride or perceived superiority or when it's I feel a sense of woundedness and I lash out or not wanting to hear correction, having a hot temper, in each instance, pride is somehow involved.

And that's why Proverbs 13:10 says, "Wherever there is strife, there is pride, period." Because pride keeps us from even recognizing the issue. Or pride keeps us from even wanting to make a change. It's like, "Not my problem. It's their problem. Yeah, I'm good." Pride, even when we do realize that we need to make a change, pride deceives us into thinking that we can change on our terms and in our strength, that that's just more pride being heaped into the equation.

And Proverbs, the rest of the Bible says, "You know what? You can't do it on your own terms. You can't do it on your own strength." The Bible Proverbs offers a different solution and it's this, it's humility. Humility. Proverbs 22:4 says, "Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life." And this is where so much of this hinges. When it comes to these relational tipping points, ultimately so much comes down to which carries the day, pride or humility?

In fact, circle that word life in Proverbs 22:4 because that's what we all want, right? We all want life, the fullness of life, and we want relationships that are healthy and represent the best that life has to offer. Well, look at this little note I put in your outline. This is from a book called the Theological Word Book of the Old Testament. And that, I don't know about you, but that sounds like a page turner to me. Theological Word Book of the Old Testament. Look what it says here. This is good.

"The Hebrew verb to live involves the ability to have life somewhere on the scale between the fullest enjoyment of all the powers of one's being with health and prosperity on the one hand and descent into trouble, sickness, and death on the other." Did you catch that? To live involves having the ability to live somewhere on the scale between the best of life and the worst of life. Which means we're all on that teeter-totter along with our relationships, somewhere, and these dynamics are playing out.

And bear in mind, if there's a single thing that can affect the quality of our life, it's our relationships. Our relationships. And so again, it does us well to reflect on these things. But we also need to recognize this, and this is where Proverbs has this way. When it talks about life and it talks about issues of humility and the fear of the Lord, what it does is it anticipates the gospel. It propels us towards a solution that's beyond our own strength because the answer here ultimately isn't, you know, try harder. Go home and be wiser. That's impossible.

And make no mistake, wisdom is more precious than riches. So we ought to pursue it, but we need more than wise principles. We need a Savior. We need someone to do for us what we cannot do on our own. I don't know if you caught the cover, the front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel yesterday, but it was a story of a near-drowning 10-year-old Shane Martinez over at the Simpkins Swimming Center. That's Shane right there on the right with the black swimsuit on.

Tuesday, this week, that same boy that you see there was lying unconscious at the bottom of the pool, utterly helpless. To a lifeguard and one of his 11-year-old buddies, swim down, snatch him up off the bottom of the pool, get him out on the deck where his coach and others perform CPR for upwards of three minutes until, pah, he starts to breathe again. Talk about a situation that could have tipped one way or the other and praise the Lord, this one ended with a happy, happy ending.

The Bible says that in our sinful nature, in our sinful behavior, we're at the bottom of the pool. We're helpless. We don't have the strength to get ourselves out. We need someone to rescue us from the death that our spiritual state, our natural spiritual state leaves us in. Well, what happened? Here's where the gospel enters in. God jumped into the pool. God jumped into the pool.

I mean, you want to talk about the ultimate relational tipping point. Well, when was that? It was when Jesus humbled Himself for us, when He plunged into our situation that was the ultimate game changer, the ultimate expression of humility. Look what Philippians 2:8 says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." And what was Jesus doing while He was hanging on that cross? He was praying, "Father, forgive them, for they don't even know what they're doing." How does God treat His enemies? Sends His Son to die for them.

As in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And that, by the way, is why we're not allowed to bear grudges, because for those who desperately are in need of grace, hey, we're not allowed to withhold it from somebody else. We can't burn the bridge that we so desperately need.

And so as God's grace and His love penetrates sinful hearts, pride-filled hearts, angry hearts, wounded hearts, it begins to tip them in a different direction. And this happens on a personal level when I admit my need and receive God's grace. It's not just out there. It's not just historical fact. It's all of those things, but it's also personal when I humble myself.

And you know, you don't have to understand it all. All you really need is that little just mustard seed of faith and humility that says, "Lord, I need You. I need forgiveness. I need hope. I need power. I need to be able to do relationships differently than I've been doing them all my life, Lord. Help me." And whether this is your first time in church or you've been in church for 50, 60 years, you've been believing all of your life, we never outgrow our need for God's empowering grace in our life. Never.

Luke's Gospel, Chapter 18, it says, "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself." Big surprise. "God, I thank You that I'm not like other men. Robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector, I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." If you haven't noticed, God, I'm here to just remind you.

And I think in our setting, we could take some liberties and imagine this guy also saying, "And I thank You, Lord, that I am such an excellent spouse. I thank You, God, that my family isn't like those screwed up people that live down the street. Thank You, God, because I'm golden. I got it dialed. I've arrived. Praise the Lord." But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, brought down. But the one, he or she who humbles themselves will be lifted up.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Because you know, we're not just talking about God giving us a little leg up in life. We're talking about total transformation, a new life, a new way of being, a new way of doing relationships. And yes, it takes time for that transformation to happen. The teeter-totter typically tips, that's a lot of T's, rather slowly. But eventually it does. And as we change, we begin to realize just how weak we really are, just how incapable we are as we grow in faith.

I can remember as a younger man thinking, "Yeah, I got some rough edges, but I got Jesus to help me with those." As we grow in our faith, we realize just how utterly dependent we are on God's power and God's strength to do anything that would be loving or redeeming or beautiful or good. If we stay humble and abide in His love, we will continue to grow in that direction.

So let me leave you with a really cool illustration of this, an illustration of when humility and weakness are met by strength and love. This weekend, we were talking about which city in America was the most contented city in America, according to the people at Gallup. And do you remember what that city was? It is Lincoln. Very good. You were listening. Very good. And I know that that came as a shock to many of us, Lincoln, Nebraska.

And so this week I actually got a little insight into why the people in Lincoln are so contented. And well, as it turns out, because Lincoln, Nebraska is home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There you go. I mean, isn't that enough? Well, for the people in Lincoln, it's a big deal. The Huskers are near and dear to their heart, and perhaps their number one fan is a seven-year-old boy named Jack Hoffman. Jack wears that number 22 jersey with pride almost daily. He was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, and struggles are tremendous.

But he wears the number 22 because his favorite Huskers player is a guy named Rex Burkhead. A little over a year ago, Jack was about to undergo his second surgery, one that the doctors warn he may never live through. When Jack's father reaches out in desperation to the Huskers organization, he says, "Hey, can my son meet Rex?" Rex is his favorite player. And Rex happily complies. They strike up a friendship that has grown and blossomed in Jack's own words. He says, "Why is Rex so special?" He says, "Because he cares about me." And because he wears a bracelet on his wrist every single game that says, "Team Jack." It's a reminder to pray for Jack because Jack needs it.

And now everyone on the team wears these Team Jack bracelets. In fact, they kind of call themselves Team Jack. Jack's father sums up in about two sentences the impact this friendship has had on his son. Listen to this. We were in the locker room. Jack gave Rex some bracelets that said, "Team Jack, pray." That single meeting on September 15th was a turning point for our family. That single meeting was a turning point in our family. Just one meeting that no one in the moment kind of thought would be so profound that would bring so much joy.

And yet for this entire family, the cancer's still there. But they've been included into something that gives them joy, a friendship that has enriched their lives in so many unexpected ways, events and possibilities that they've never really conceived. And one of those came just last Saturday. A week ago yesterday, the Huskers played their annual Red vs. White Spring Scrimmage. This is where the offense plays the defense. And it's a huge tradition. They're going back 50, 60 years. It's always a sellout. 60,000 plus people crammed into Memorial Stadium and lay in the game on fourth down. Watch what happens.

It is Jack Hoffman of Team Jack coming out of the field right now, this fourth down and short. Jack Hoffman has been adopted really by this football team. A young man who has battled brain cancer is on the field right now for the Huskers. One more snap for Taylor Martinez, too, who will hand it off to Jack. So Taylor gets the shotgun set, gives it to Jack. Here he goes. He's got blockers out in front. There he is. He's running the midfield. Listen to this crowd. It's Jack Hoffman. A young man that, as I mentioned, has really been adopted by this football team to score a touchdown. Oh, wow. What a moment. And both benches empty. How cool is that? Man, the awesome moment.

Yeah. Good people, those Nebraska people. They're good people. Well, good. Congratulations. But listen. You may feel that your situation is impossible. You may be thinking about a relationship and you go, it's never going to change. It's doomed. It's fatally flawed. You think you'll never experience anything different than what you always have.

I show you that clip of Jack Hoffman, not just because it's cool, which it is, but I show it to you to remind you of the relationship that God wants with us. Like Rex Birkhead's friendship with Jack involved the entire team adopting him and leading to such amazing moments. Our friendship with Jesus is part of our adoption into God's entire household. In Christ, we're on God's team. And yeah, that means we get to run with the ball sometimes, you know, and even score some touchdowns in his strength.

And by the way, that touchdown that Jack scored, that's official. It's in the record books. They're calling it the greatest touchdown ever scored in that stadium. But you know what else? It was also impossible. Totally impossible for a little seven-year-old with brain cancer to get past the Nebraska defense. Total impossible for any of us. Unless there's love and grace as part of the equation. Because when that enters in, it tips everything towards the goal line, doesn't it?

Well, not to be too simplistic, because life is hard. Relationships are hard. But when we humble ourselves before God, he promises to lift us up. And when God enters in to the equation, he comes with the power to tip the entire game for His glory and for our good. Do you believe that? Well, then you can have hope.

Let's pray. Father, as we simply quiet our hearts before You, I pray, Lord, that by Your Spirit and Your strength and Your invitation that we would be able to humble ourselves before You in this moment and avail ourselves to Your empowering grace in our life, Your Spirit that resides in us.

And, Lord, I pray especially for those who are thinking of a relationship right now that brings great sadness to their heart. And I pray, Lord, that we don't want to be simplistic. We don't want to assume that everything goes the way that we always want. But, Lord, nor do we want to retreat into cynicism or despair or decide we know the outcome more than You. And so, Father, I pray that You would just keep hope alive.

And, Lord, we know that we can only do our part. So as far as it's up to us, we want to be at peace with all people. And we pray that You would give us the maturity and the grace to move beyond the types of tendencies or traits that are counterproductive, that are destructive to relationship. Grow us up in Christ, Lord, we pray.

And, Father, it's because of Christ. It's because of His humility, His dying that we are able to even ask for these things. And so, Lord, I thank You again for diving into the pool and rescuing us in our helplessness. Wherever we're at today, Lord, may we continue to simply abide in Your love to be dependent and yielded upon You. We pray this, Lord, in the matchless name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our friend. Amen.