Do you know what it means to love someone? Jesus does, and He made sure to give us important lessons so we would know what it means to have a meaningful Christian relationship. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

This is just a snippet of what God wanted us to understand about the universal signs of healthy relationships. Our faith strongly influences how we interact with others, and when you are ready to be romantically involved with someone as a Christian, you should be looking to glorify God in your relationship. You can create a relationship with Him as the foundation. Here is how you can create the relationship God intended for you.

Find God in Your Life

In order to have a solid Christian relationship, you first have to have an intimate relationship with God. Have you spent much time on your own personal faith journey? Are you feeling close to Jesus, or have you been ignoring His call lately? Do something daily that is just between you and the Lord. Prayer, meditation, and daily devotionals are all great options. When you spend time with God, you rejuvenate yourself, get a clearer mind, and are generally a more positive person. This allows you to be more focused on building a deep, meaningful Christian relationship with others. A relationship with Him also teaches you what it means to have a healthy relationship. You will have a better understanding of what real love means. In addition, you can turn to God in times when the relationship isn’t going well, and in times when it is. He wants to hear it all.

Share God With Each Other

If you want to have a Christian relationship, that means you both should want to walk on your faith journey together. Sharing God with your partner is a great way for you both to grow and learn about Christ. Immerse yourselves in your faith, receive the salvation of the Lord, and your life will change for the better. You will grow and learn all of what makes a relationship work through studying the path of Christ. Discuss and grow with your partner through church, the word of the gospel and in prayer. Make Christ the foundation of your relationship and you will be stronger than you thought you could ever be. Come up with a daily ritual you all can do together. Maybe you will spend 20 minutes each night going over a devotional, or you will go to yearly mission trips as a couple. Whatever it is, make it something that makes you both feel more connected to each other and Christ.

Have Mutual Respect

Respect is crucial to a healthy, Christian relationship. One of the most charming things in the world is to be around two people who respect each other. It shows in the sparkle in their eyes when they look at one another. There’s no mistaking respect for any other personal quality, because no other quality looks and acts the same way. In order to learn to respect others, you must first learn how to respect yourself. To do so, you need to start seeing yourself the way God sees you. God created you and loves you, and He’s proud of you. You should be proud of yourself. When you look at others, admire them for being another amazing creation of God. Show them that same loving level of respect. Respect them for who they are and what God has in store for them.

Seek to Copy Jesus’ Relationships

Do you know how Christ treated others? Sit down with your partner and read how Jesus dealt with situations and personal relationships. Through these lessons, you will learn how you should be treating each other. Jesus always put His love in everything He did. We should want to mimic that, and always put our heart into our actions and decisions. God left the Bible for us so that we could gain wisdom, truth and guidance in all things, including our relationships. If you are struggling to emulate Jesus in your relationship, take comfort in knowing the solution to any problem is only a prayer away. It may become difficult at times when two individuals are trying to be together, but take solace in the Lord because He will give you the strength needed to overcome problems and comfort each other with solutions.

Always Give 100 Percent

Jesus never gave someone only half of His attention. He always went all-in, giving 100 percent of Himself. We should strive to do this in our relationships, too. A 50/50 relationship can be toxic because it expects both parties to contribute equally to the relationship. Life is going to prevent this from ever happening. There will be days when you are sick, tired, and simply can’t put the same effort in as your partner. Your partner shouldn’t be mad or upset if this happens, and they also shouldn’t suddenly stop giving up. Instead of each person putting in 50 percent, we should be putting in 100 percent. You should not wait around idly for your partner to begin picking up their end of the relationship before you pick up yours. Give all of yourself as Jesus did.

Practice Forgiveness

We have learned from Jesus what it means to forgive. Jesus gave us the ultimate sacrifice, giving His life in order to forgive us of our sins. What a beautiful example. It goes to show that no matter what someone does, if they truly repent they can start again. While it can be hard to forgive others for their wrongdoing, it’s a necessity if we want to have healthy Christian relationships. It should be in our nature as Christians to forgive those who "trespass against us” because when we don’t, the relationship will surely crumble apart. No human is perfect, and we are all bound to make mistakes. If you are having trouble forgiving someone, remember a time when you were forgiven. You probably felt a huge sense of relief, and strived to be better in the future. Matthew 6:14: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

Be Faithful

Jesus was always faithful to God, no matter what He faced throughout His life. All the road bumps and issues Jesus faced never gave Him any unwavering doubt. To be faithful is to be reliable, unwavering and steadfast. This principle is described in the Bible as an attribute of God, a characteristic that some exhibit and some lack. When the Bible speaks of God's faithfulness, we see how over and over again, when God says He will do something, He does it. Jesus modeled faithfulness in His promise to never leave us or forsake us. We can do this in our relationships, as well. We make promises to our partner that we should always keep. They can be as small as “I will do the dishes” to huge commitments such as marriage. Even when things are down in your relationship, you should remain loyal and faithful as Jesus has taught us.

Jesus’ life was a perfect example of how we should live our own. He taught us what it means to truly love another person. It means being forgiving, showing respect, and being partners in a relationship. We should continually try to learn from Jesus’ example and keep Him at the forefront of our relationships. When we do, we build a strong foundation that even Satan can’t shake.