27: The Importance of Relationships

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

ROMANS 15:2

I HAD A CALL RECENTLY FROM a director at a new upscale retirement home in our city. She was asking for help in building community with the new residents, and we talked about the connection between living extraordinarily long lives with that of maintaining close relationships with others.

In Louis Cozolino’s book Timeless, he writes, “A life that maximizes social interaction and human-to-human contact is good for the brain at every stage, particularly for the aging brain.”[1]

Researchers have found that those who are in community tend to live longer, fulfilled lives.[2]

We are fearfully and wonderfully made and created to be in community, as the Trinity is. The relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the great example for us; we were not made to be in isolation.

So what do we in the 55+ age group need to consider? I’m suggesting four ways to interact with others.

  1. Become a volunteer. Volunteering fosters healthy relationships. Of course, this benefits society as a whole.
  2. Get involved in the church. The local church needs us. Are we overlooking opportunities to invest in local church members? In 1 Corinthians 3:16, Paul says we are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. As a church body, we are to be in community and to visibly represent the living God to one another and to the world.
  3. Seek out those who work with young people. Ask them how you can be involved. Recently both a youth pastor and young adults pastor told me they need older people to walk alongside our youth.
  4. Community is so valuable to us. I’d say it’s a need that escalates as we grow older. Find a small group, perhaps at your church, to be a part of.

There’s no age restriction placed on the imperative given in Hebrews 10:24-25. Stay connected and you’ll enjoy benefits to your self-esteem and your physical, spiritual, and mental health.

Questions

  1. For some, grandchildren live a great distance away. How do you stay connected to grandchildren and be involved in their lives?
  2. What benefits do you think you’d receive from volunteering? What steps could you take to try out a volunteer position for a short period of time?
  3. When we think about relationships, we often think first of family, but we have many more interactions in our churches, neighborhoods, and communities. What other relationships can you nurture during this season of life?