Have you ever watched a romantic comedy and wished your own love story would play out the same way? It’s easy to get caught up in the fairytale-soulmate idea

This season of life provides unique opportunities for growth, exploration, and service that may not be possible in other seasons.

Looking back at our past can be difficult and painful, but it can also be a crucial step in our healing journey. Recognizing how our past has impacted us can help us bring our pain and brokenness to God, and trust Him to heal and restore us.

Whether it’s a romantic relationship, a friendship, or a family relationship, how we approach it matters. Here are five ways to approach relationships with intentionality:

Do the elements of our lives—our time, our sacrifice—line up with what we say we want to be? How many of us are really people of our word? How often do we say things about ourselves, hoping they are true? How many times do we believe things about ourselves that really, honestly, aren’t true?

In following Jesus, we must have both the right King and the right Kingdom. It has to be both. If we have only the right King, we turn into the crowd when Jesus doesn’t do His will our “way.