Many of us spend a lot of money and time studying in order to be purposeful in our behaviour to get a job we like, are good at, and gives us some money to pay the rent and get us some food each month. 

Many of us will be purposeful with the spending of our money, so that when we finish education, we can head to a country far away for a year or so and experience another culture. We’ll not spend much, and save much in order to do this. We are purposeful in that sense.

Many of us are purposeful with our time. We will ensure we are not busy or out at a certain time of the day in order to watch that game of football, or we may be purposeful with holiday time in order that we can take the time off work to get to that trip, or that event.

We are often so purposeful with various areas of our lives. Why not get purposeful about your relationships? Your family relationships, your friendships, your ‘dating’ relationships, your marriages. All relationships deserve purpose. They deserve time, effort, perseverance, money(!). Your relationships deserve your attention.

What is being purposeful to you then? Maybe its something as simple as your personal hygiene (cue the laughs). You want a husband or a wife? Get yourself looking, smelling and appearing great. It’s true that God doesn’t look at the outside, he looks at the heart. It’s also true that we should do the same. Another truth is that we are a fallen and broken people and we don’t tend to only look at the heart, so lets put some effort into our appearance too. A messy, un-kept appearance says to everyone else that you don’t care much about yourself (and therefore, probably don’t care about others either).

Maybe purpose means investing some time making something for your ‘other’, or preparing something for them. A hamper of treats. Heather has just given me 50 daily mini presents, each of which are a small snack for each day. Wow. That’s effort. For Valentines Day I created a framed branches creativity/arty thing (something like this). I’m not arty like that. It took time and effort.

Maybe you can be purposeful by getting the courage and speaking directly to the person involved and taking them out on a date, seeing if you actually like them or not.

Maybe being purposeful is ending the aimless relationship you are in. Ouch.

Be purposeful with your relationships. Whether you are in one or want one. Be Purposeful.