Sustain Relationships! Part Three

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Some people cannot sustain relationships because they always turn on their sad mode button. They seem not to be able to shake it off from the past. And they’re tired all the time, and you just feel blah. If we can go deep into their history, we will see that it’s been a while since they’ve felt good mentally, emotionally, or physically. Instead, they’re irritable and having a hard time concentrating, and it seems like no matter what someone such as a counselor, pastor, or prayer warrior is trying to do to help them, they seem like they can’t get out of this rut.

So, what’s going on? Could it be that they’re in a bad relationship? It’s easy to think that our relationship determines our emotional state. We see happy couples, and we automatically assume that if we were with someone like that, we’d be happy too. Or we see couples in conflict, and we think that if we could just get away from our partner, we’d finally be at peace. But the truth is, your emotions drive your dominant mood in the relationship, so if you’re not feeling good about yourself, you cannot positively affect any relationship.

Psalm 95:2 says, “Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.

Think about it. The relationship will be unhappy if you’re always exhausted and down, no matter how great your partner is. But the relationship will be more peaceful if you’re happy and content inside, even amidst conflict. It’s not to say that our partner can’t contribute to our emotional state. Constantly fighting with our partner will wear us down, and our emotional state will be crappy. But if we’re in a good relationship, our partner can help us feel much better emotionally if we already feel good about ourselves.

So how do we fix our emotional state if it’s not because of our partner? First, we need to focus on ourselves. We need to identify what’s happening inside that’s making us so unhappy. Maybe we’re struggling with our self-esteem. Perhaps we’re not happy with our job or our lifestyle. Maybe we’re dealing with unresolved emotional issues from our past. Once we identify what’s going on, we need to start working on it. We need to find ways to make ourselves happier. We need to find ways to improve our self-esteem. We need to find ways to deal with our emotional issues. James 5:13 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”

Prayer:
1. John 10:11; I thank you, Jesus, you are my good shepherd.
2. Numbers 6:26; May the LORD lift his countenance upon you and give you peace in Jesus’ name. Amen.