I just finished a book that I hated to see end: Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp. My sister-in-law Ellen recommended it, and she's a smart cookie about books!
The premise of the book, which is grounded in Christianity with lots of Bible scripture to make the points, is that relationships in life are going to be challenging and that it's the challenging relationships that draw us nearer to God. It's not to say that we should go out and seek difficult friendships or kinships; it's rather that we should embrace the challenges that our loved ones and friends pose to us and realize that God is at work in them for our benefit. The benefits are numerous: 1) we are drawn closer to Him amidst relationship difficulties; 2) we become dependent on Him to get us through; 3) we realize that by showing mercy, forgiveness, kindness, hope in a relationship, we have the opportunity to do to others exactly what God has so lovingly done to us. In a very ironic way, I believe God knew that if all our relationships were hunky-dory, we would probably not see so clearly the need for God to reign in our lives.
The book has so much scripture that you could almost consider it a devotional! Every chapter of the book references several verses from the Bible. There are a lot of verses from the Psalms, the Gospels and the Epistles. Ephesians 4 (Be kind-hearted, compassionate, tender-hearted) is a big one, as is Mark 10 (Jesus came to serve, not to be served) and Psalm 121 (The Lord watches over us). But the one verse that best sums up the book is from Matthew 25:40 - Whatsoever you do unto the least of these my brother, you do unto me.
Some may consider the book dark and gloomy. It was a ray of hope for me, however. Not that I have many difficult relationships at all; in fact I'm very lucky to have so many positive connections in life. My husband, my family and my friends are the best. The book has spurred me on to reach out to people in need and to be more of a compassionate and caring person. It taught me that horizontal relationships on earth are one of God's ways of strengthening our vertical relationship with Him. If the relationships get messy, so be it! We get a chance to draw nearer to God, for in our weaknesses, He is strong!