THE LINC COLLECTIVE

Scriptures:Genesis 1:26-27 NIV
Genesis 2:7 NIV
Genesis 2:15-25 NIV
Genesis 3:20 NIV
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV
Psalm 23:1-2 NIV
Jeremiah 17:9 KJV
Psalm 139:23 NKJV
Colossians 3:14

Points:
1. Secure your identity
2. Guard your heart
3. Love well (love like a farmer, love like a servant, love like a solder)

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What if the challenge had nothing to do with our relationships, but how we relate to God? 

We need to discover how God thinks because we can’t learn to live right and love right if we don’t learn to think right. We need to think God’s thoughts to enjoy God’s plan for our lives. 

Our relationship with God (vertical) impacts our relationship with others (horizontal). 

1. Secure Your Identity

Our relationships are at their best when we are secure in our identity. 

(Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, 2:15-25, 3:20 NIV)

The enemy doesn’t just want to disrupt your family he wants to distort your identity because he knows you will become ineffective in what God’s called you to – one of which is building healthy families (because family matters). 

The only way to secure our Identity in Jesus is to spend time with Him – Psalm 1:1-3 NIV, Psalm 23:1-2 NIV.

Question: Where are your green pastures and still waters? Where is the place you seek God’s heart for you? (Because these moments define our identity.)

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2. Guard Your Heart

We need to guard our hearts against comparing our journey with everyone else’s.
We have to Shepard our hearts – leading and submitting them to God.

David prayed this in Psalm 139:23 (NKJV): “search my heart oh God, try me and know my anxiety, see if there is any wicked way in me?”

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (into our lives & relationships). So what do we want in our hearts?  LOVE.

Colossians 3:14 – “above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

Question: How do we practically guard our hearts in the context of relationships?

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3. Love Well

1. Love like a farmer:
Farming is a process, it takes time. You plow the ground. You plant seed and then you wait, water, fertilise and wait some more. You trust or have faith that eventually there will be fruit in season. 

2. Love like a servant:
True greatness is always revealed by service (Mathew 23:11).  In the context of relationships: seek them out, understand them & learn how to love (serve) them well.

3. Love like a soldier:
The Christian life is a battleground. A soldier never questions an assignment – they’re passionate about protecting what’s important to them. 

Question: What seed did you sow to produce this fruit of the season you’re currently in? What seed can you sow to produce the fruit you want to see in the future? 

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Before God drives Adam and Eve from the garden He removes their fig leaves and replaces them with animal skins – this is the first time we see sacrifice in the Bible. Right in the beginning, God sacrifices an animal to cover their shame and remind them of their identity. 

We can rest in the leadership of the Holy Spirit (who helps us guard our hearts), the Father (who showed us how to love with the ultimate sacrifice of His son), and Jesus (the one who covers our shame and secures our identity.)