George Gallup Jr. listed the top spiritual needs of people today:
1. To believe that life is meaningful and has a purpose
2. To have a sense of community and deeper relationships
3. To be appreciated and respected
4. To be listened to
5. To feel they are growing in faith
6. To get practical help in developing a mature faith
Notice how many of the needs relate to relationships. That's because we are created to be relational people. God created us first to have a relationship with him and second to have relationship with one another. It is through our interactions with others that we find meaning in life. The Bible teaches us that others will know whether our christianity is genuine by looking at whether our love for each other is real (John 13:35).
It's easy to love people who love us, but we are commanded to extend acts of kindness and acts of service even to strangers. Doing so is a sign that our faith is dynamic and alive. God asks us to grow and mature by forgiving those who have wronged us. And scripture instructs us to put others needs ahead of our own, even if it's not convenient. That's how we show others we appreciate and respect them.
In Hebrew 13 the author instructs us concerning hospitality to strangers, marital relations and submission to authority - in essence, how to build relationships. But the whole catalog of interactions with others is rooted in, and gets its life source from our relationship with Jesus. Our sacrifice of praise to God and our sacrifice of service to others are fundamentally linked to him. Our good works to others grow out of Christ's work in us, and that pleases him.
None of our sacrifices for others are even comparable to the great sacrifice Jesus made in order to have a relationship with us. But the amazing thing is that when we offer the sacrifices of time, energy and good deeds to others, we not only grow closer to them, but we also grow closer to Jesus.
In Christ, we find true meaning in our lives.
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