Relational Intelligence: The People Skills You Need for the Life of Purpose You Want

by Dharius Daniels

I believe this because God is the inventor of relationships. He created the first relationship. I believe the creator of a thing is the one who gets to determine how to get the best use out of it. The inventor of a thing is the best one to give instructions on how to best use it.

Joy is not a selfish pursuit. We should unashamedly, unapologetically pursue it because God promises it. And one of the ways we get our joy is through relationships.

“I know you more, and I don’t love you less.” When engaged in an authentic friendship, deficits are resolved.

agape, a Greek word—actually has nothing to do with feelings at all. It’s a love of the will. It’s an unconquerable benevolence. It’s commitment to do what’s in the best interest of someone else, regardless of what they do for you.

Word of God has to become the wrecking ball that demolishes our ways of thinking that are misguided, misinformed, and destructive.

Covering is a term often used in religious circles. An advisor provides covering. Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) says that in “an abundance of counselors there is safety.”

When God is ordering, guiding, and influencing our relationship decisions, those decisions are always in the best interest of both parties, because God is equally concerned about both people in the relationship.

But God is a just God. He is not going to create a circumstance that causes me to succeed at someone else’s expense.

We must ask, In this season of my life, where am I? Where am I emotionally? Where am I spiritually? If we cannot locate ourselves, it will be hard to determine where we want a relationship to go. If we don’t know where we are or where we want to go, we won’t know who is supposed to go with us.