Victory Daily Devotional

GIVING John 3:13-21 Devotional:- “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (V. 16).      One of the major responsibilities to cultivate in a good relationship is giving. This is very foundational; because it is on it every good relationship is built. Without it, no relationship will stand. People don’t often want to part with what they have, but love is the virtue that can draw it out. Most people treat their income as their life, but love is sharing our lives with others.

BE AN EXAMPLE 1 Timothy 4:11-16 Devotional:- Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” ( V. 12 ).      Everyone involved in relationship should seek to be an example. To be an example is to be a model for what is right in the relationship. It is not enough for us to know or always say what we ought to do or be doing in our relationship. It is very important that we become doer of what we are saying. If you will not do what you are saying, nobody will do it. The right mind-set is that, I must be in front to do what I am asking others to do and not just do as I say.

RESPONSIBILITY 1 John 3:11-17 Devotional:- “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” ( V. 16 )      Building a healthy relationship demands that each party is responsible. In a situation where a partner is not responsible, it can frustrate the one that is responsible. This is exactly the way we treat God a lot of time. Man is always discouraged by the devil not to be responsible towards God. Whenever we have needs, we always want God to be responsible towards us, but not us being responsible to God. This is always the bone of contention between man and God. To be responsible is to always carry out part of the relationship deal.

COMMITMENT Romans 12:9-21 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (V. 10)      Most people want good home but do not want to pay the price for it. One of the major prices for a good relationship is commitment to each other. The parties must all embrace the spirit of commitment. Everyone is committed in one place or the other. If a man or woman is not committed to his or her spouse, he/she is committed to someone else somewhere. It is therefore very important for each member to be committed to each other.

TRADING THE FLESH Romans 8:1-11 Devotional:- “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (v. 6)            A major challenge of most relationship is our ‘self”. Each one is always trying to display and uphold his “self”. This causes much rift whenever any family is settling dispute or disagreements. It is also important that we remember that when we give our life to Jesus, we gave out our self and take his life. The flesh or self is the mind-set of our culture, tradition and nature. So as children of God we can no longer allow the flesh or our canal mind or self to rule our lives or ruin our relationship (Romans 6:14)

CULTURE Genesis 46:28-34 Devotional:- “That you shall say, “Your servants’ occupation has been with Livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians” (V. 34)      In managing our differences, one aspect we have to confront is cultural differences. These are differences resulting from our tribes and their nature. In some tribes, they eat some kind of food that is a taboo to another tribe. Some tribe wears some kind of dresses that is opposite of the other and so on. Apart from language differences, there are much difference from culture to culture. So, this becomes a strong factor to manage if our relationship will work successfully.

TEMPERAMENT Genesis 25:19-28 Devotional:- “So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents” (V. 27)      Everyone picks his temperamental nature from the parents. This is therefore, being passed to us through the blood. Since it is in our blood, it becomes our permanent nature. Temperamental nature is therefore one of the major factors to work on to make two to become one. Each temperamental nature has advantages and disadvantages. God consciously allow us to have these differences to create varieties in our world. If all of us behave the same way, the whole world will be boring.

BACKGROUND Proverbs 22:1-6 Devotional:- “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (V. 6)          Everyone grows up from a background. Our background is the nature and the behavioral attitude of people we grew up with. Our background is the lifestyle of our parents and our relations. This goes a long way to affect our beliefs and our concepts of life. It registers in our mind permanently as what we belief that life should look like. Our background often becomes so difficult to change because they are what we are introduced to in our early learning years.

LABOUR OF LOVE Hebrews 6:1-12 Devotional:- “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor o love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” ( V. 10 )      There Is a need to have the understanding of the labour of love. Cultivating quality relationship is a lot of work. Most people are just looking for pleasure. They do not know that to build a good relationship of any type demands some kind of labour. This is because we all come from different background. To become one in understanding, view and focus is a lot of work. To reform an adult is virtually one of the greatest works on earth. Even, God don’t find it easy with man ( Genesis 6:5-8 ).

UNITY Psalms 133:1-3 Devotional:- “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!” (V. 1)      Every attempt should be made to maintain unity in every good relationship. Please know that unity is not uniformity but oneness in understanding and focus. God made us in a variety. So, we should not see uniformity as unity. Our variation must be appreciated. That variety makes the world worth living, the same thing in your home. That is why it takes much maturity to attain unity and not hindering people’s peculiarity.

CORRECTION Ephesians 4:1-6 Devotional:- “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love” (V. 2)           As human being, we grow into maturity when we make changes from our wrong attitude to the right one. For change to take place, there is a need for us to be corrected in such area of change. If we are going to be corrected, God is going to use men to do so and we are also to be used to correct others. Since no correction; no change: then, we cannot avoid been corrected by people around us. If our relationship will grow then, the approach to correction must be very mature.

AGREEMENT Amos 3:1-6 Devotional:- “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (V. 3)      Journeying together in good relationship will be difficult except the parties come to terms of agreement. As powerful as relationships could be to the life of man, as important is agreement to make it strong. A family relationship without agreement will be full of argument always. This is because; people don’t know the power of agreement. That is why many are forced into agreement like master and slave relationship.

ACCEPTANCE Genesis 24:54-67 Devotional:- “Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” (V. 67)      For any relationship to be strong, it must start on the foundation of acceptability. Relationship could sometimes be very challenging when the level of acceptance is not all that strong. Some people go into relationship when they are not really ready to accept each other. Others consider entering into relationship based on a shallow acceptance. Such relationship will get to the middle of existence to discover they didn’t consider it deeper before saying, I do.

UNDERSTANDING 1 Peter 3:1-12 Devotional:- “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding. Giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered” (V. 7)      Here is a great need to be of understanding if relationship will not be like a trap. To live together with understanding is to tolerate each other with maturity. This is to understand that we are people raised from different background, yet, brought together by divine arrangement. It is therefore very important that we wisely handle our relationship with understanding.

ONE LANGUAGE Genesis 11:1-9 Devotional:- “And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (V. 6)      As people who have agreed to live together in relationship, we must truly be one so much that we can always speak one language. To speak one language is not just about the same dialect, but rather it is speaking the same thing together in love. It is for the two to speak in the same direction and the same focus. To speak one language is to speak as agreed by the parties.

OPENNESS Proverbs 18:19-24 Devotional:- “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” ( V. 24 ) NKJV      The principle of relationship demands that we are open to receive the other person we have decided to relate with. Openness has to do with allowing the one you accept to love into your privacy. Without privacy, you cannot have access to the heart of most people. People need to see the genuineness in someone before they can open up the secret of their lives. Yet, one must allow the other in, before intimate relationship can begin.

LOVE LANGUAGES 1 John 3:1-3 Devotional:- “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on Us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” ( V. 1 )      Words are powerful. Words are seed ( Luke 8:11 ). The word of God creates and so are our words ( John 1:1-3 ). If our word creates, then, it is the seed for all that were produced in this world. It is important we know that, there are angels of God to carry out our words especially when we are speaking the word of God ( Psalms103:20 ). That is why there is no one who can keep speaking hatred that will have love around him/her.

TOTAL LOVE Proverbs 5:15-21 Devotional:- “Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you” (V. 17)      Everyone who wishes to cultivate good relationship must learn to give total love. There are different types of relationship, yet they all need the virtue of love. The word of God says our love should not be with hypocrisy (Romans 12:9). Half love is no love. To get the best of any relationship, you have to give it total love. If not, the other person you are relating with will soon discover that you are not genuine and will also withdraw from you.

TIME TOGETHER Genesis 26:6-11 Devotional:- “Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife” ( V. 8 )      Time is another critical factor in building a healthy relationship. Good relationship does not just evolve in a single day, it takes time. Those who want to have effective communication need time to build it up. Time is an opportunity to communicate in relationship. You cannot grow your relationship together with someone you don’t have time for.

PRINCIPLE OF COMMUNICATION Colossians 4:1-8 Devotional:- “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” ( V. 6 )      Communication is a singular factor that is so much needed to build and grow any relationship. When people don’t take this serious, they will struggle in their relationship. No matter the kind of relationship, Communication is the key. Since we know how important relationship is to each of us, we must therefore give attention to learning the principle of communication.

CONNECT Genesis 40:5-15 Devotional:- “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house” ( V 14 ).           God has kept all that you will ever need inside relationship. The reason people lack is because they could not connect with people God has placed their help in their hand. That is why all of us must understand the need to connect with people God has placed around us for our solution. To connect is to be introduced to someone who is also open to accept you. To connect in marriage relationship is to open up for your partner and allow him or her to be permanently part of your life.

PRINCIPLES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS Romans 3:21-26 Devotional:- “Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference” ( V. 22 )      Reading through the scriptures, you will discover that God honors the righteous ( Genesis 7:1 ). Because of this, men of old always want to do all in their power to live a righteous life before God and man. In most cases, people always misinterpret righteousness to be moral. That is why today, people want to kill others because they think they are not righteous, forgetting that the act of killing is also the act of unrighteousness. It is therefore important that we understand the principles of righteousness.

SUBMISSION Ephesians 5:15-21 Devotional:- “Submitting to one another in the fear of God” (V. 21)           Most people look at the word submission as a statement of weakness. In the world, the word submission interprets surrender i.e., to accept defeat and submit to fate. So, most people struggle in life because they have dreams and aspiration they don’t know how to achieve. The truth is that until God is part of our race, it may be hard to achieve. The word submission in the word of God is living to allow the will of God to be done in all areas of our lives (Matthew 26:39).

PRINCIPLES OF LOVE 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Devotional:- “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up” ( V. 4 )       Genuine love is fast eroding away from our world today. This is because, people want to practice love without the principles of love. This will only make such a lust and not love. It is important we understand the reason God created the union of relationship for the human. It is to make a person grow together with others and become mature enough to fulfill his/her destiny. So, without right relationship, many may not be able to succeed. Also, without true love, no relationship will be Successful.

BOOK OF LOVE 1 John 2:3-11 Devotional:- “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” ( V. 5 )      The world today Is attempting to destroy the power of relationship. On daily basis, the principles of good relationship are not only broken but destroyed. Today, people are advised to express themselves anyhow. This is called civilization and freedom of speech. The virtue of honour to the elders is destroyed by the way people address each other. Yes, we should not be intimidated to talk to anyone when we ought to, yet moral demands that we do it with honour and respect for each other ( Colossians 4:6 ).

WHAT ARE PRINCIPLES? Acts 2:40-47 Devotional:- And they continued steadfastly in the apostles" doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" ( V. 42 )      Principles in relationships are values formed to become a standard for practices and the way of people living together. A community without such principles will be out of control. This could lead to self-destruction. These principles are the ethics and pattern of living in any given community. The generations we are living in today want to be without principles, either at home or in the community. People want to do what they feel like doing any how at any given time. If you want to have good relationship and the best of it, you must learn the principles of relationship in the word of God. For example; it is a principle of relationship not to love people more than yourself ( Matthew 22:39 ).

PURPOSE OF RELATIONSHIP Genesis 2:15-25 And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" ( V. 18 )      God who is the author of relationship observed a missing factor after creating man. He saw that man need another creature to compliment him. That is what relationship does for us. No man or woman will be at his or her best without the impute of the other. The enemy of man often suggests to us that we should only be self-focused. But it will be a total regret when someone refuses to exploit the opportunity of relationship with others.

THE AUTHOR  Genesis 1:26-31 Devotional:- "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" ( V. 27 ) God, the creator of all human is the author of marriage-relationship. He is the one who knows the purpose of marriage. He is the one who determines the way marriage is to be instituted. It will therefore be very important for us to follow His pattern and to get the best of our relationship. His intension was to make man have the best of each other. His intention is to make a marriage the best place for man on earth.

GOOD FOUNDATION Matthew 7:21-29 Devotional:- “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock” ( V. 24 )      The human race has always been deceived into pleasure mentality ( Revelation 12:9 ). This singular factor has excluded multitude from being able to walk in wisdom. It closes doors of joy against many because, they feel they are not enjoying as others. It excludes multitude from financial wisdom because they think they have to pursue pleasure. The worst of it all is that it disallows people from having a good and solid home because pleasure has become a priority for many.