"Therefore, where [is] the blessing of you? For I witness to you that if possible the eyes of you having dug out you gave to me."
-Isn’t that how it often goes in life, in relationships? When you first begin, there is this sense of newness, of freshness, of wonder. Starry-eyed. Life is all good, this person is all good. They hung the moon! You would do anything for them, give up anything to help them or to be with them. You would go out of your way and then some, do anything they ask - they can do no wrong. Nary a wart to be seen. And then it happens. Gradually. And maybe not even due to any fault of either party, but time and life, and familiarity, and busyness and other things creep in and begin to slowly erode the respect, the wonder. Relationship creep. It's like gravity, a constant force, only it pulls people apart. Attraction dispelled by repulsion. And if left unchecked, that other person can actually become repulsive. Relationship creep can make you a creep. It is the old adage, familiarity breeds what? Contempt. Even the best of situations can grow stale. The luster wears off and they appear rather tarnished. And this significant other comes to be taken for granted. Disapproval and disrespect begin to take the place of affirmation and appreciation. Sadly, this was happening to the Galatians in their relationship with Paul. Disenchanted, they were - especially cuz he was getting all up in their spiritual kitchen.
-But first of all, why would anyone even do that? Pluck out your eyes? To give them to another person? And really, to what end, cuz plucked out eyes aren't good to anyone. Well, absent some kind of amazing medical breakthrough. But again, if you pluck out your eyes, you have just made yourself blind. For life. Who would do such a thing? And why? It would be a complete waste.
-Since the motive cannot be to benefit another, that pretty much leaves us with some kind of extreme gratitude. But that most likely is exactly what Paul is describing here. The Galatian believers were (at one point at least) soooo grateful to Paul for coming and sharing with them the Good News about Jesus - they had never heard it before. And they very likely would have never heard had Paul not gone on his "mission". Or gotten sick. But he was truly their angel, their messenger from God. The Message he shared gave them hope and joy and peace and forgiveness. It was a game changer. It was THEIR game changer, their LIFE changer in fact. And, as is the case, words could not express the gratefulness they had towards Paul. But he was so aware, he understood so well how thankful they were, that he knew if it had been practical that the Galatians would have ventured to give him their eyes as a token of their appreciation. Surely gratitude cannot be overvalued in any relationship - it both acknowledges and blesses the one having blessed AND it is a powerful check on relationship creep. It's the antidote! Gratitude says, I do appreciate you. I STILL appreciate you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or any other scientist, for that matter) that discern that relationships generally do better when positive expressions (appreciation, encouragement, and support) outweigh the negative ones (disapproval, criticism, and sarcasm). Gratitude helps me assume a position of humility and acknowledges the role of this other - even and including when they offer constructive criticism - in whatever success or goodness I have experienced. And most assuredly it is the whipped cream and cherry on top of any good deed or effort. Let us not stop short in this most excellent way of consummating a transaction of goodness, and let us be on the lookout for and put a stop to relationship creep in all its ugly forms.
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