Copyright © 2011 Grace Family Church of Rhode Island

We are relational creatures

Who am I? I remember asking myself that question quite often in my formative years. Looking back, however, I think the question would have been better asked in terms of relationships. Who I was, for the most part, was defined by the relationships I had. My parents had shaped much of who I was while I was growing up, and now my friends and acquaintances were shaping my new identity. The problem was that this new identity, just like my relationships, was not stable. Nothing seemed to be solid and stable in those years, but rather fluid, ever changing, and it was all quite unsettling.

Relationships are extremely important for all of us. I remember, while in college, hearing of an old experiment that was conducted somewhere in the old USSR in the attempt to discover some clues as to what could be a universal language. The theory behind the experiment was that if a group of children were kept isolated from any external influence since birth, and only interact with each other, they would develop a language that is the most natural to human beings. Everything the babies needed to be healthy was provided, but no human contact outside their own group was allowed. Surprisingly, the babies soon started to inexplicably die. No illness was reported. Nothing physiological could explain their deaths. They concluded that the babies needed more than nutrition and hygiene. They needed human contact, the touch of a loving parent, the warmth of someone who could care for them.

Whether the observations conducted in this experiment were accurate or not, it is a fact that we were created as relational beings. We need relationships. Even more so, we need one relationship in particular: a relationship with our creator God. As we look at our relationships in this life, we will begin by understanding how we were made, and why. Building upon this foundation, we will find that we can look at our human relationships from a different perspective, which will make it easier for us to understand what makes them work and what doesn't.

It is our prayer that this work may be a great blessing for you and for your loved ones.