Relationships can be messy and painful. People are flawed, sinful and selfish apart from the grace of God, but because of the grace of God we can still enjoy and invest into relationships full of meaning and purpose.

One of the rules of investment is to never put in an investment where risk is high and returns are low. While this principle is usually related to monetary investments, it also applies in various areas as well.

Relationships can be high risk because dealing with people can be messy and complicated. That's why relationships of any kind - marriages, family, friendships and even business partnerships - can be a lot of work. But is it really worth investing time and effort into as many relationships as possible? Or should I, as a Christian, just shut myself out from communities in churches, marriages and friendships to avoid getting hurt?

Matthew 6:19-21 says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

It's very clear that treasures on earth are not as valuable as treasures in heaven, but what are the treasures we have in heaven? It's definitely not gold and silver because there is probably going to be a lot of that in heaven so it won't be scarce. It's definitely not money because value will be measured differently in heaven.

I believe what will be considered as "treasures" in heaven will be the relationships we build with one another here on earth.

God's greatest command to us was to love God and to love other people. In other words, God has called us to invest in our relationship with Him and relationship with other people. Why? Because relationships will be of highest value in heaven.

So, going back to investing, if something of high risk has great gains then it's worth pursuing. Relationships are high risk, but the returns will undeniably mean meaningful and lasting relationships that will go from here to eternity if we value and invest time, effort and resources we have on building relationships with the people around us.

No Christian was meant to be shut out and isolated from the joy and danger that is building relationships. God has called us all to grow and expend on building life-long relationships that honour God.