What can you do to enhance your most significant relationships? (101-4)

The Bible is all about relationships. God is a personal being who has paid a great price to make it possible for us to enter a relationship with Him through the merits of Jesus Christ. He wants this relationship, in turn, to be made visible in our relationships with others. The leader that ultimately wins in this lifetime isn’t the one with the most toys but the leader with the best relationships. Read 1 Kings 19:19-21.

This passage marks a permanent transition in the lives of two men. When Elijah approached Elisha and threw his cloak around this young man, they both knew that their lives would change forever. Elijah had become a mentor and Elisha his disciple, and this relationship continued to grow until Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind three years later (see 2 Kings 2:1-15).

Relationships require risk and commitment on the part of everyone involved. Elijah would invest time and energy in Elisha. He would risk loving him without a guarantee that his love would be returned. He would teach him without guarantee that Elisha would learn and succeed. Elisha on the other hand would leave his home, his land, his work and his family believing that Elijah had something worthwhile to offer and would remain enthusiastic about mentoring him and developing their friendship. Yet because both Elijah and Elisha committed themselves fully to the relationship both men had a significant impact on the history of their nation.

What can you do to develop or enhance your most significant relationships? Are you mentoring someone? Do you have a mentor? Savvy leaders understand that the better their relationships with their team, the more effective their leadership.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”