Joel Osteen Podcast - Bring Value To Our Relationships | Victoria Osteen

Episode Date: November 22, 2025

Don't let offense pollute your relationships. When you make the decision to forgive, your relationships will flourish!Fear says, “You can’t.” Faith says, “God will!” This November, take a 30-day journey to renew your mind and walk confidently in God’s promises. Request No More Fear: You Have the Mind of Christ and choose faith over fear today!https://bit.ly/42Ti2dH  Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. We honor you and we bless you with our lives. You may be seated. You know, I want to talk to us a little bit about relationships and how to bring value to our relationships. You know, we're going to be around people.

all the time, and we're going to have people in our life that are close to us. And some of those relationships can bring us great joy and satisfaction. And sometimes some of those same relationships can be a source of frustration, and they can be a challenge in our life. We've got to learn to balance the two extremes. Have you ever been in love with someone a moment, and then they say something you don't like, and you're mad at them? That doesn't make sense.

We got fickle feelings. We've got to learn how to balance these things called relationships and learn to bring out the best in each other and enjoy relationships. Listen to what the Apostle Paul teaches us in 1st Corinthians 13-5. He says, love keeps no records of wrongs. Love keeps no records of wrongs. You see, the Apostle Paul was telling us, If we're going to balance out our relationships and we're going to enjoy them, we're not going to be

frustrated and irritated, we're going to have to learn to keep records of the good things. We're going to have to learn to find the good in our relationship, the good in the people that we are connected to. See, it's easy to see the worst in people. Let me tell you, that takes no effort, and it certainly takes no faith. But when we begin to keep no records of wrong and we begin to look at the good, we have a grateful heart. Now think about this.

Love keeps no records of wrong. The only way that we can accomplish this is to let love rule. See, God is love. He is the very essence of love. When we think about this for a minute about God's love, we think, now God, if you were to have recorded our mistakes, if you were to have recorded our mistakes, if you are you, you If you were to have recorded all the things that we've done wrong, would you ever have given us the very best Jesus Christ?

Would you have sent your only son in place of our mistakes? See, love is the essence of Almighty God. And he's put that love on the inside of us, and the only way that we're going to be able to balance out relationships and certainly enjoy them is to let the love grow. I was, several years ago, I was right down here at prayer time, praying with a woman. And she came to me and she said, Victoria, you need to pray for me. My husband has disappointed me so much. He does all these things that I don't like.

Then she pulled up these three sheets of paper that she held in her hand. And she opened them up. And I began to look at the offenses on the pieces of paper and I noticed that they were written in different color ink. And some were written in pencil. And I thought, well, why are they written in different color ink and in pencil? And she said, you know why? Because as soon as he does something I don't like, she said, I'll grab the closest pen or pencil that I have, and I'll write it down as quickly as I can because I don't want to forget it.

And I thought, okay. I prayed for her. There's only so much you can do at the altar. her. Sweet woman. Sweet woman. You know, she came up for prayer. She was giving it to God. When I got back in my seat, I was thinking about it and I thought, Lord, you know, if I see her again, I'm going to tell her. You know, then I have all this download what I'm going to tell her, right? But I thought to myself, wouldn't she be much happier if she would just tear that list up? If she wouldn't keep a record, a running list of the things that she sees that's wrong?

Wouldn't her life be better, less frustrated? Wouldn't she operate from a position of power if she would just tear that list up? Because the truth of the matter is, the greatest power that we operate in is when we trust God. It's when we say, God, it doesn't matter how many things they do wrong. It doesn't matter if they don't affirm me.

It doesn't matter if they don't affirm me. It doesn't matter if they do the things that I like or dislike. That doesn't change who I am. Doesn't change my destiny. Because I trust you, God. You got my back. I can love. I can let it grow.

That is a position of power. When we're frustrated, when we're always looking at what's wrong, we're at a position of weakness. We're running at a deficit because that's how we're going to operate. We're going to respond to people in our life from that. place. You know, some of us don't make physical lists, but some of us compile a mental list of the things that people do when they hurt us. They don't make us feel good. They do things their way and not our way. We compile this mental list, and when it happens again, we add it to our

list again. And then when it happens again, we have this automatic recording in our mind that says, well, there they go again. They're always going to be like that. They're never going to change. There they go. That's who they are. And you know what? That is not a healthy place to be. Because you know what happens? It hurts us. I mean, it not only hurts the other person and damages our relationships, but it frustrates us. It hurts us. So God, I mean, is saying through the Apostle Paul, one of the ways you can balance all this out is to clean the slate every day, to let people off the hook, to understand the best help you can be to them is when you're operating out of a place of wholeness, happiness, and strength. Keep no records of wrongs.

Listen, nobody's perfect. No relationship is perfect. Now, can I stop there just a minute? because I've heard that a lot lately. Nobody's perfect. Some people say nobody's perfect, and, you know, that's why I do that. But the truth of the matter is we serve a perfect God. And His spirit is on the inside of us. So we should at least set our sights on perfection. We should at least set our sights on developing everything that he's put on the inside of us.

Can you imagine walking this earth, being so full of love, so full of faithfulness, that nothing shakes you, nothing rocks your boat. When your child says something or he does something that you don't particularly agree with, that you say, I love you anyway, tell me, can you imagine the response that the people in our life would have when we love them anyway? Can you imagine the meaningful conversations that we can have when we're operating of this place of pure love? Now, people don't always want to hear it.

But man, when they know you love them, seed goes down on the inside of them, and they carry that seed with them. You know, more is caught. More is caught with honey. More flies are caught with honey than vinegar. More things are absorbed when you are coming at it from a place of love. Like, you know what, I can't change you. God can change you. All I can do is love you.

The Bible says, oh, no, man, but to love them. Listen, life is too short to live frustrated. Life is too short and it's too precious to be out of balance with the people in your life. You know as well as I do one minute you can love somebody until they do something you don't like. Listen, we've got to step back and we've got to say, okay, this morning I wipe the slate clean. I let go of a fence. I let everybody in my life off the hook. I'm going to let them be who God's called them for.

to be. I'm going to do my job, and I'm going to be more effective in that job when I come from a place to love. Amen. Amen. He is an awesome God, and he helps us. That's the great thing. He helps us. He doesn't expect us to do this alone. Fear can be a powerful force, and we'll try to make you feel alone, stuck, without hope. But fear doesn't have to get the final say. There is a way out. Fear is a powerful force, but so is faith. What we focus on shapes our reality. In my new book, No More Fear, You Have the Mind of Christ, I'll show you how to silence fear and live boldly in faith and confidence. Just like David said, though I walk through the valley, I will not fear. You too can walk through life's

challenges without being paralyzed by fear. I can't promise you you'll never feel fear, but I can teach you how to rise above it by dwelling on what God says, learning to replace the anxious thoughts with faith-filled ones. You can live from a place of peace, power, and purpose. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we would like to send you a copy of Joel's book, No More Fear. You have the Mind of Christ. The Bible proclaims, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? This powerful and practical book will help you silence doubt, overcome anxiety, and step boldly. to God's overcoming power.

When fear whispers, you can't. This devotional will stir your faith to declare, God will. Each page reminds you that you weren't created to live in fear or despair. You were created to live with passion, purpose, and confidence in God's plans for your life. Let God's word equip you to rise above fear and walk in victory. Fear doesn't have the final say. God does. Be bold, be strong, and step up to who he made you to be. Victoria and I want you to know we're praying for you and your family, believing for God's

very best. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping people around the world. As we finish this year, I hope you'll consider making a special year-in gift helps to keep the ministry strong. I always want to thank our champion of hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Until we see you next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of Joel's new book. No More Fear. You have the mind of Christ. Visit Joelowstein.com or call 888-567, Joel. And for an additional gift this month, we're also offering the God's Word Work study collection. This empowering set includes the

NIV, the Message Parallel Bible, Joel's No More Fear Devotional, the classic how to read your Bible and enjoy it, plus a beautifully crafted leather bookmark with pen. You can request these inspiring scripture discovery resources by calling 888-567 Joel or logging on to joelowstein.com today. Call or click any time, 24 hours a day. Silence fear. Strengthen your spirit. Let God's Word equip you to above fear and walk in victory. Request these resources today.