Horizontal Relationships Based on a Vertical Relationship

But you do need to recognize that your most important human relational clusters are based on the type of relationship you have with your Maker. Your shared horizontal relationships are dependent on a shared vertical one because your vertical relationship defines who you are, what you value, and where you're going. Therefore, you can develop close, satisfying relationships with people who on the outside, seem to have little in common with you--because you have the same core.

--William P. Smith, Loving Well (Even If You Haven't Been) (Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2012), 89.