This week I taught a class entitled “The Top Ten Relational Needs”. It is based on a workbook by that title from Great Commandment Network.
God made us with needs, and God promised to meet those needs.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Paul is telling us that God is willing and able to meet all of our needs. It also acknowledges that we all have needs as human beings
Neediness is a characteristic of our God-given identities.
Physical needs:
- Food
- Water
- Sleep
- Oxygen
Spiritual needs:
- To experience God’s love
- To experience God’s forgiveness
- To experience God’s peace
- Only God Moments
Here are the Top Ten Relational Needs:
- Acceptance
- Affection
- Appreciation
- Approval
- Attention
- Comfort
- Encouragement
- Respect
- Security
- Support
These needs are the same for anyone, no matter where your from, no matter how young or old you are.
It’s OK to have needs, it doesn’t mean your weak. When we understand our needs, it humbles us and builds our character.
Only God and other people can meet our needs. Why did God create us this way?
- Our neediness Encourages us to depend on God and look to him to meet our needs
- Our neediness encourages interdependence – We are not robots, we have feelings and emotions and our neediness requires us to have healthy human relationships. We are here to serve one another.
- Accepting the reality of our needs helps us to develop a heart filled with compassion for others
- Admitting our needs frees us to receive and give care.
- Meeting the needs of others expresses care and produces unity in the body of Christ
My question for you is this. Of the top ten relational needs listed above, which three are most important to you and which three are most important to your spouse or significant person in your life? If you can figure that out and then communicate clearly to each other about it, your relationship will begin to improve. You can control whether or not you are meeting these needs with others, you cannot control whether others will meet your needs. However, if you are loving and serving the other person the likelihood of them meeting your needs goes way up. If your too needy, that pushes everyone away from you. You have to first meet the needs of others and show that you can do it in a healthy way.