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Love One Another
Recently, I've been questioning what our lives should be like. When we receive the Holy Spirit, our human spirits are renewed. We begin to earnestly seek God's way. Sometimes we question what is the Way, the way that we are to follow? Does God really give instructions in the Bible that can touch us on a personal level? For many years, although I believed the Bible, I felt it to be a series of dreary Old Testament commands that I had to obey or I might feel the wrath of God. Little did I understand that God is a merciful God who wants us to seek him so that we might learn Love. That God's nature is love and we are to follow this example. I John 4:7-9 We are continually told in the Bible that we are to love God, and love one another as we love ourselves. Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus himself said that those are the two great commands. That everything on earth revolves around those two things. Today, I wish to explore the command of love one another. But how do we do that? Does the Bible actually tell us ways to show love? Yes, it does. One of the most famous quotes of the Bible is probably the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The NASB plainly tells it like it is in Matthew 7:12 --we are to treat people the way we would like others to treat us. The law and the prophets boil down to this simple direction. Let's look at some other scriptures that give us information on how we are to behave toward other people. The Biblical Counseling Foundation (disclaimer ) offers the following list of scriptures called "Love one Another" Commands from the Bible in their Self Confrontation manual. I received this list from a friend so copy it below and give credit to the source. I do not know the chapter or page number in the manual. These scriptures may be summaries of the verse and may not match with the wording in the version of the Bible which you use. I encourage you to look up each scripture and question how you can apply it to your life. "Love One Another" Commands from the Bible Love God and one another Matt. 22:37-40 Bear with one another Col 3:13, Eph 4:2 Forgive one another Eph 4:32, Col 3:13 Confess to one another James 5:16 Encourage one another I Thes 5:11, Heb 10:25 Love one another John 13:34 and 15:17 Reconcile with one another Matt 5:23-24 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another Eph 4:32 Admonish and reprove one another Matt 18:15, Rom 15:14 Act as members of one another Rom 12:5 Be devoted to one another Rom 12:10 Pray for one another James 5:16 Honor one another Rom 12:10 Accept one another Rom 15:7 Greet one another Rom 16:16 Serve one another Gal 5:13 Bear one another's burdens Gal 6:2 Be subject one another Eph 5:21 Be hospitable to one another I Pet 4:9 Be a belssing to one another I Pet 3:9 Give yourself to one another II Cor 8:5 Assemble with one another Heb 10:25 Meet one another's needs Acts 4:32-37 Have the same care for one another I Cor 12:25 Be unselfish with one another I Cor 13:4-7 Love one another unconditionally John 13:1, 15:13 Seek after that which is good for one another I Thes 5:16 Stimulate one another to love and good deeds Heb 10:24 Be of the same mind with one another I Cor 1:10, Phil 2:2, Rom 15:5 Celebrate Lords Supper with one another Luke 22:15-15 Christ and the other men who wrote the Bible admonished us to do these things. When I received this list in an email, it struck me that I need to question my activites a little more closely. Do I follow these instructions on a daily basis? While the answer has to truthfully be that I don't always demonstrate this things. However, I also know that I am not condemned; if born again, we have been given a righteous Spirit. This is what God looks at. Our daily battle is brings our flesh into alignment with His renewed Spirit. What God wants from us is that we exercise our free will to continually choose Him and His Way rather than the way of the flesh. By His grace, what I didn't do today will be the past; tomorrow I can start anew. Therefore I wish to encourage you that if we haven't always been loving, that we can renew our mind daily and start treating others as we would want to be treated. How grateful I am that I can appreciate the quote "each day is a gift from God." |
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