Topic: There Are No Perfect Relationships [RICK WARREN Devotional 14 May 2019]

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“Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2 NLT).Today’s devotional is by Tom Holladay, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church.

If there is any high and low that is greater than any other, it is the high and low of relationships. You can experience the high of joy and the low of disappointment sometimes within minutes of each other.

When you find yourself struggling with each other’s faults, go to God with your disappointments.

Disappointments come into relationships because none of us are perfect. We have an idealized view of love, relationships, and marriage, and when reality doesn’t match up to this picture, it leaves us disappointed.

We will never have the perfect wedding or the perfect marriage or the perfect family because we are imperfect, sinful people. The idea that two imperfect, sinful people can come together and have a perfect relationship is unrealistic. You need to adjust your expectations.

One of the reasons we are often disappointed in our relationships is because we’re asking another human being to meet needs that only God can meet. Another human being can’t promise you that they will always be with you or that they won’t fail you. Only God can meet those promises. He tells us in his Word, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5 NIV).

When we get to heaven, there will be no more disappointment or pain. Until then, you can choose to keep loving. As 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (NLT).PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor RickTalk It Over

• In light of the reality of sin, how do you need to adjust your expectations for your spouse or a friend?
• The kind of love 1 Corinthians 13:7 talks about does not come naturally to us. How do you think you can grow in this kind of love?
• Why do you think it is so important to us to have the perfect marriage and family? Does God expects this of us?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.