God’s gift to us is eternal life in Christ Jesus, a quality of life, a life more abundantly, which begins at our re-birth and continues into eternity. This abundant life should be manifested in every conceivable area of our lives, but so many of us live below par Christian lives. Human beings are complicated and hard to understand. People who are close to- and loved by us can have a powerfully positive influence on us. On the other hand, we all are (and were) powerfully affected in a negative way by people close to and loved by us, and as a result, we may have serious issues (for instance rejection, abandonment, and insecurity) in our lives. This can imprison us; put us into bondage, crush us, blind us, deafen us, and cripple us. Jesus also went through all these negative influences in His life, but He never ended up with a wounded soul or heart because He had the Father in His life who was more significant to Him than anything He went through. We need to submit to and have Jesus as the most significant person in our lives. This will make that which He says about us and what He did for us on the cross effective in our lives, shortening our path to spiritual maturity and wholeness. We need to get to know Jesus better. When He, and what He did on the cross becomes significant to us, it will transform our lives as His words and influence will have power because of His proximity to us.