Here we go with our five minutes of faith, three portions of scripture and one more tool on your toolbox. So the word for this message is relationships. I know a lot of us guys, we like our alone time. We like being, I don't want to hear what's going on in the house. I don't want to hear what's going on in politics.

I don't want to hear what's going on with anybody else. I just wanna get away. And there's definitely a time and a place for that, but God does not want us to be alum. God wants us to be in community. God wants us to be in relationships. That's why for those of us who are married, and for those of you who are not yet, but looking for that spouse, there's supposed to be that relationship.

There's supposed to be that example of two becoming one, and that's outside of the marriage also, meaning we should be coming together as a brotherhood. We should be coming together as a community. We should be coming together when we find ourselves faced with adversity. We shouldn't find ourselves while we're getting anxious and be able to rely upon the next guy to us.

So very similar to the, the movie about Forrest Gump and you got Bubba and you got Forrest, and they're over in Vietnam and Bubba leans over to Forrest and he says, Hey bores, let's lean against each other. That way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud. And that's a biblical principle that we pull outta that from the Old Testament letter of Ecclesiastes to where?

Where the, when one falls, there's someone to help pick him up. And to come to the end of the fourth chapter, it talks about a three chord strand is not easily broken when there are friends, when there's a brotherhood. When you have that community together, you're able to share in each other's experiences and to build one another up.

So if the portion of scripture that I would want to go to, it's all in Ephesians toward the end of chapter five and into chapter six. So the first one happens to deal with. A spousal relationship. There should be a reason in that relation to where there is someone who is the leader, the protector of the house, and I understand that submitting, especially as a employee to an employer at times, can be difficult.

We're gonna get into that a little bit in the next portion in chapter five, verse 25. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. We are to give ourselves, we are the ones who are sacrificial and surrogate. We are the ones who are doing so. And just think about it. If there is that relationship and there's that mutual understanding, mutual respect, right?

A husband and wife can do amazing things. It's gotta be focused upon Christ, us as firefighters, us as parents. Correction us as the parents in our houses. We also have parents. So we go a little bit further and it tells us, children talking to me, obey your parents, as in the Lord for it is right now. It's not specifically meant for me to my parents, but it should 'cause now I've got my wife, I've got my household, I've got my responsibilities.

But nonetheless, love, honor and respect the parents. Kids, if you're turning into this and it's the first commandment of the 10 Commandments, that comes with a promise. 'cause it will go well with you. It will be the right thing for you as a child to obey your parents. Now to the employer and the employee.

So battalion chiefs, chiefs talking to you just like I'm talking to the lowest boot on the ground as the boot, as the new guy that's on the engine. Respect. New leader, respect the one who is overseeing you. Because it says to us in verse five, don't do it with the way of I service as people pleasers, but as servants of Christ.

So don't be wink, wink. Don't be nod, nod. Don't be trying to get away with something because it is to Christ. And the same thing with the masters. Do the same to them starting in verse nine, and stop your threatening knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with God.

So what do we take away from this relationships, guys? Relationships, relationships. Relationships. It matters how you treat one another. It matters how you trust one, because in doing so, you show where your heart is. You show where your motivations are. Thank you very much for tuning in, praying for you guys.

Stay safe. God bless.