Grace in relationships

As the day comes to an end, I again ask myself how I have been seeing God's grace today. One theme stands out for me today...relationships. Today was such a blessing as the Lord allowed me to counsel three people today, all highlighting the fact that God has given us a responsibility to each other. We are a community and a lot of times God deals with us as a community, not just as individuals. Relationships are perhaps one of the most powerful means by which God sanctifies us here on earth. They are messy, yes. But they show us just how sinful we are, they expose our weaknesses, and God uses them to test us in a lot of areas. God did not create each and every one of us with an island of our own, although sometimes we do wish that were the case to escape all these challenges. I think about the psalmist's cry:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way" (Psalm 139: 23, 24)
How does God do this? Through relationships? Not to limit it to this because He uses other means as well. I am called to make sure I am at peace with all men, to make sure that broken relationships are restored (especially with my brethren). I am called to look out for the best interest of others, not to defraud others. There are countless verses in Scripture that focus on the importance of this. When I look at my responsibility and call to stewardship in relationships, I am convinced, in fact, I know this is too high a calling and I can not make it...save from the grace of God.

Thank you Lord for the relationships that you have blessed me with. I ask that you use them to search my heart and my thoughts that I may see if there is any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way. I ask for your grace in this, without which I am helpless.