In a small town about a half hour northeast of Seattle, lives a middle-aged accountant. He has six children, two grandchildren and has probably never made more than $20,000 a year. He, his wife and remaining children live in a small, modest home within walking distance of his job. He has never held what people would call an "important" position in the community, unless that be as elder in his church, commander of an Awana Club, or director of a Jesus 24/7 high school ministry.

Over the years he has invested innumerable hours into not only raising his children in the way that they should go, but also in instructing the youth of our church in Godly principles. Nearly ever time that we met for a Jesus 24/7 study, he would humbly relate a story from the past week in which he had been able to lovingly serve someone else—often ending in sharing the gospel or merely showing Christ's love to someone that he had never met before that time. Every story and lesson that he shared with us encouraged us to grow deeper in our relationships with Christ by studying God's word and serving with love, while keeping our eyes open for ways to reach out to others—whether we knew them or not.

This last year he made a statement that each moment of his life that we have been privileged to see or hear about backed up wholeheartedly. After many years of thinking, learning and growing he finally became convinced about what the purpose of life really was. "Life," he declared, "is about relationships, not accomplishments." At first we students brushed away the simple speech, but the more we turned it over in our heads the more we realized the truth behind it.

First and foremost, our individual relationships with Christ should take priority above all else. When that relationship is steadfast and growing, the other areas of our lives fall neatly into place, and we can rest assured that no matter what happens, every circumstance will turn out for God's glory and our good as long as we keep our eyes focused on Christ.

In keeping with God's commandments to love and respect our parents and those in authority, our relationships with our parents and other family members take next priority. These people have encouraged us, taught us and been there to bail us out of every problem that we blundered into since the day we were born! Now we need to repay them by serving them, keeping them involved in our lives and accepting their advice even when we think that we know what we are doing.

Brothers, sisters, friends—our relationships to them should be one of discernment, unconditional love and service. God has purposely placed each one of them in our lives for a specific reason, and we need to make sure that we live our lives in such a way as to fulfill that purpose for God's glory and to bring them closer to Him.

Matthew 5:13-16 calls us to be the salt of the earth and shining lights in the world. How can we do this unless we pay attention to the people who fill the world around us? The people that we sit next to on an airplane, those whom we work with in student government or committees, our teammates, the people in need that we pass on the streets every day—let's not think that God will not hold us accountable for our relationships with these people as well! All it takes is one small act of service with love to point them to Christ, His love and His gift of eternal life.

The college that we attend, the major we choose and the career that we pursue are often irrelevant in the long run. While God has endowed each of us with specific gifts and talents to use, to develop, to bless others and glorify Him with, our future jobs have no significance on the surface level. How we interact with the people that the job brings us into contact with is the deciding factor of whether or not we have lived our lives "successfully." Life, after all, is about relationships and not accomplishments.

Fortunately for us, God has given—and given in abundance—the one tool that is necessary to live our lives according to this principle: love. First Corinthians chapter thirteen outlines what true love is... it is patient, kind, does not brag or act unbecomingly, is not jealous, is not provoked, keeps no record of wrong, rejoices with the truth, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and love never fails. Paul ends this section with a final statement that "now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Faithfulness, sacrifice, knowledge and service mean nothing UNLESS they are performed with love.

As we graduate and move on, I hope that we evaluate all of our relationships and strive to show each person God's love through our lives, keeping in mind that love is the greatest gift, and the relationships that we have with God, family, friends, and people that we only know for a moment are why we are here on earth. We may not always know the next step that we are supposed to take in our walks, but we can always look around and see which lives we can be affecting in a positive way, no matter where we are.

No one will ever write a book about the man I talked about earlier, nor will he ever gain national recognition for the things that he has done, but my desire for this class is to live our lives as he has—focusing not on worldly accomplishments, fame or fortune, but in storing up treasures in heaven by loving those around us and seeking to always glorify God.