Encouragement

Relationships -a mess worth making, Tim Lane and Paul Tripp comments on the importance of seeing Jesus:

In our own strength, we see the husband who barely communicates. We see the friends who have been consistently disloyal. We see the child who rebels against every command. We see the boss who is unrelentingly critical.
...

Our relationship problems can loom so large that they obstruct our view of the one thing that can give us the hope and courage to go on. That one thing is Christ. Encouragement gives struggling people the eyes to see an unseen Christ. He is the only reliable hope when the call of relationship has taken me way beyond my own wisdom, strength, and character.

Christ give me reason to continue in something that would have long since defeated me. We need:
Christ presence
Christ's promises
and we can see our potential in Christ.