Love One Another

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Love One Another

 

In the Bible, the term ‘one another’ can be seen at least 41 times.  Most of these phrases are in the context of how Christians are to treat each other. The ‘one another' phrases which do not fall into that category fall into the category of how Christians are not to treat each other.  Both of those are equally important. Today we are going to look at several passages of scripture which deal with both.  We are going to call these the do's and the don’ts. 

John 13:34-35

 

The love we have and show for one another is how we show the world that we are the disciples of Christ. This leaves us with some questions. 

 

Does God leave it to our discretion as to how we are to love one another, or are there some practical guidelines within the word of God on how we are supposed to go about this?  How do we show this love, do our brothers and sisters in Christ need to know we love them or can we just assume they know it and go on with our lives?  How does our love for one another manifest itself in the way we treat one another?  What do we do in order to show proper love?  What do we not do if we want to show proper love? What does the Lord say about this?   This lesson is going to focus primarily on how we are to demonstrate our love for one another. 

 

We can read what Paul wrote in Romans.

Romans 12: 9 - 18

 

From this passage we have several things that we'll put in the do category.  Kindly, affectionate, giving preference to one another, generosity, blessings, rejoicing, patience, hospitable, steadfast prayer, rejoicing with the joyful and weeping with those in pain, peaceful living and a high regard for good things.   These are all things a Christian must do in order to show that proper love for one another. 

 

Paul also threw some don’ts in there as well.  These are things we cannot do if we are showing the proper love for one another.  We are NOT to lag in our diligence, we are not to curse those who persecute us, rather we are to bless them.  We are not to focus our minds on high things, which in this context means the differences between fortunate or less fortunate Christians. This would be things like wealth, privilege, education, social grace, power, office, and position in the world. Not setting the mind on such things means not being influenced by them and not allowing them to be the basis of one's attitude toward his brothers in Christ. 

 

Another don’t is not to be wise in our own opinions.  This immediate application here is that form of conceit which allows petty little human arrangements or opinions among the congregation to serve as the basis upon which some associations are made, and others neglected. In other words, we are not to allow matters of opinion to decide who we do or do not associate with in the body of Christ.  There's more on that as we work our way through Romans. 

 

We don't repay evil for evil.  Christianity is NOT an eye for an eye religion.  We bless those who curse us, we love those who hate us.  We DO NOT repay wrong with wrong.  Imagine for just a moment where we would be today if Jesus Christ repaid wrong for wrong on the day of His crucifixion. 

 

Paul continued on this topic in Romans.  

Romans 13:8-10

 

Love is the fulfillment of the law of Christ.  One is not showing proper love to one another when they engage in the worldly activities Paul mentioned.  Love towards one another demands a level of personal behavior.  A person cannot claim to love someone and then chase after their wife. We can’t claim to love someone who we steal from. We definitely can’t claim to love someone we murder. Perfect love toward one another manifests itself in personal behavior, self restraint, sacrifice and honesty in our dealings.  

These things listed in this passage go into the don’t do category if we want to show the proper love for one another. Paul urged his readers to not be wise in their own opinions.   Concerning doubtful disputations, or in other words, matters of opinion, Paul went on to add some more on this to the don’t do category. 

Romans 14:10-13

 

The Bible is very clear about what we do when a brother is living in transgression of God's law.  However,  for matters of personal opinion, we are forbidden to judge one another.  If someone has a complaint about a brother or sister in Christ they better be able to produce scripture which demonstrates what the violation of God's will is, or they will be judged themselves. This is not a friendly suggestion, it is a command and part of the law of Christ.  Everybody has an opinion, everybody has an ideal.  We are supposed to be helping each other get to heaven, working as a single unified body.  And Paul, an inspired apostle, wrote to Christians in the first century telling them not to judge others based on matters of personal opinion and to make a personal resolve not to put that stumbling block in front of them.  Don't wound them, don't hurt them, don't drive them away, don't try to force our ideals on them. If our opinion is something that is going to put hardship on a brother or sister in Christ, then Paul says to keep them to ourselves. Loving one another means loving others more than we love our opinions.  Loving one another means putting the well being of others ahead of our ideals or opinions.

In Galatians,  Paul gave his readers some practical instruction on how to love one another properly. Some within the Galatian congregations had fallen prey to men who wanted to force the practice of the old law of Moses into Christianity.  Paul went through a lengthy discourse on the advantages of the law of Christ and the disadvantages of the law of Moses and at the end of that letter, Paul knew his instructions were going to cause trouble within the congregations.  These congregations had to reverse the Judaizing process and return to true Christianity.  Paul knew there were people in those congregations who were misled, wrong and would have to be corrected.  He knew there would be trouble when they started the process of returning themselves to the truth.  So he included in his letter some of those "one another" phrases.  

Galatians 5:13-15

 

These Christians had a difficult task ahead of them.  They had to reject the doctrine of the Judaizers and return to the truth.  Paul taught them to love one another, to serve one another and not to bite and devour each other because it would lead to them being consumed by one another.  In other words, if they weren't careful, in their pursuit to return each other to the truth, they would injure one another and do more harm than good.  Paul told them first what had to be done, but he wanted them to understand that the motivation had to be through love and by serving one another and not biting and devouring.   

When we read on ahead in Galatians 5, we see that Paul added some more ‘one another’ instructions for them.

Galatians 5:26-6:2

 

So from the book of Galatians we are going to add serving one another, loving one another as we love ourselves, restoring one another in spirit of gentleness if need be, and bearing one another's burdens to the do side of the category.  And in the don’t category we are going to add not biting and devouring one another, becoming overtaken by our own opinions and not challenging, contesting or provoking one another. 

 

The Galatian congregations were not alone in what they faced.  People with differing opinions who were unable to work past them were at work in the congregation at Corinth as well.  This is the most well known congregation in all the New Testament that battled with this.  They had all kinds of problems to deal with, mostly as a result of where they were.  These Christian were mainly gentile converts from the city of Corinth which was one of the most corrupt and evil societies in existence in the Roman Empire.  Imagine if you will trying to organize a congregation of Christians from among the people you would find within the walls of a maximum security prison and you might start getting somewhat of an idea of what this group of Christians had to contend with from within. 

 

 A list of them is provided for us. 

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

 

That congregation had Christians who had been engaging in some really bad activities.  It's no wonder they had a lot to deal with.  These people had a long way to go to be mature Christians.  So before we wag our heads in disdain for the difficulties that the congregation there faced, we need to consider where they came from just to get to where they were.  Paul literally planted a church of Christ in the skid row of the Roman Empire. He was planning a third visit to them in order to help them out.  Here is what he was afraid he would find when he got there.

2 Corinthians 12:20-21

 

Paul was afraid when he got to Corinth, he would not find the brotherly love that Christians are to exhibit toward one another.  Instead he was worried that he would find strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.  These things are not to be going on within a congregation of the Lord's people.  We can add all of these to the don’t category.  Those who do these things are not loving one another in the proper way. 

 

How about the church in Ephesus? 

Ephesians 4:1-3

Ephesians 4:31-5:2

The do list includes lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing one another in love, kindness, tenderheartedness, forgiveness, and unity. 

 

The don’t list includes bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking. 

 

How about the church on Colossi?

Colossians 3:13-16

 

How about the church in Thessalonica?

1 Thessalonians 5:11-15

 

We are commanded to recognize and esteem those who labor among us.  Those who work to bring and teach us God's word and try to help guide us in the paths of right.  We are to warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, and be patient with all.  We are never to render evil for evil to anyone.  We are always to pursue what is good both for ourselves and for all. 

 

The do’s and don’ts keep going on. 

Titus 3:2-3

 

The "do" column gets peace, gentleness and humility.

 

The don’t column gets speaking evil of one another, foolishness, disobedience, deception, various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy and hating one another. 

 

In the three letters of John, we are taught to love one another no less than 6 times in just those words.  "Love one another"

 

We have the do column and the do not column. When we put those all together we can form a picture of who we must be as Christians.  On the one side we see how we are to act toward one another, how we treat one another, how we help, build up, support, encourage and teach one another.  When we fail to do those things in the "do" column, we have fallen short as children of God in our duties to one another. 

 

On the other side we see what we are NOT TO DO to one another if we love them.  We are not to belittle, discourage, dishonor, tear down, divide from, hurt, harm, damage or consume one another in any way shape or form.  

 

We are of the body of Christ.  We are the children of God.  We are the best last hope for humanity.  God has given us His will and left it up to us to represent it to the world.  We stand apart from the world.  We have to live in it, with all its disappointments, fear, hurt, deception and evil. 

 

 We come together as a body, as a family so that we can escape from the world for just a little while before we go back and have to face it again.  This congregation is our sanctuary. It's our ONLY port in the storm.  This is where we go for encouragement and fortification so that we can go back into the pit and keep on keeping on.  This is our brief escape from it all.  It's the closest thing to heaven that any of us will ever get this side of the grave or the judgment.  We must work to make sure this gathering is what it is intended to be for all of us.  And we never ever want to do anything to ruin it for anyone else. 

 

When one of us rejoices, we all rejoice.  When we are happy, we are all happy.  When one of us repents, we all give thanks.  When one of us triumphs, we all win.

 

But…

 

When one of us is sick, we all suffer.  When one of us dies, we all grieve.  When one of us is cut, we all bleed. When one of us is lost, we all lose and when someone is hurt within the body of Christ by another, all of us have been wronged and we have failed. 

 

Service to Christ means service to one another. That’s the only way He will accept. We won’t always live up to these things. We will sometimes hit the don’t column. That’s because we are not perfect.

 If you are looking for perfection, you will always be disappointed, because we all have our human frailties and fall short.

I John 1: 5 - 10

 

He knows we will never be perfect. He doesn’t expect us to be. Some of us, however, seem to expect perfection and are depressed and saddened when they never find it. We are not expected to be perfect by God, so we should not expect perfection from one another, either. However, we must be actively TRYING to hit the things in the do column and avoid the things in the don’t column. That’s how we grow as Christians. Always remembering that we are nothing without God.