There’s no doubt about it, God designed us to live in community – we are relational beings. Yet, we must always remember that the vertical comes before the horizontal.

 

Think about this in terms of standards. If God’s not the one who informs your expectations or your boundaries, then they’ll come from someone else. Before Eve even came on the scene, God had already given Adam his parameters.

 

He said in Genesis 2:16-17, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” This was what Adam could do, this is what he couldn’t do.

 

If you know the story, what ends up happening is despite Adam knowing the boundaries, he allows Eve to eat from the one tree that they're not supposed to.

 

The point is this, if you don’t have a standard before you get into any relationship or if you ignore that standard, then the relationship will create one for you. God gives us our standard because God gives us our conviction. Be gripped, be guided by God.