Thursday, October 5, 2023

How We Should Treat One Another

Every Tuesday evening, my husband and I host a home-group. A home group is something similar to what we used to call Sunday School or more commonly known these days as a church small group, but it is a smaller group held in someone's home. We are a group of 5 couples aging in our 50s and 60s. We all have adult children in their 20s and 30s. Some of us are in the beginning stages of grandparenting. Our ages matter less than the stage of life we are in. We share a home-cooked meal every Tuesday and then we study the Bible together and pray for one other and our families. Sometimes we ladies will meet for lunch. Our whole group, except for one couple who had previous commitments, is looking forward to attending a concert together in November when we will see Mercy Me, Toby Mac, and Zach Williams. (Do you have your tickets yet? Check out the details here!). Our church home groups are all about small groups of people in similar walks of life who are doing life together, praying for one another, supporting one another, encouraging one another - walking together in faith as we journey together on the roadways of life - and sometimes those roadways are rough, discouraging, and even dangerous. If we are going to brave these journeys together, we have to know how to treat one another. It's easy to resolve to be nice to people. We make relationship choices every day. In any given moment, we choose to either be nice to someone or to be rude to someone, but we can do better than that. We can dig into Scripture where God gives us instructions for how we should treat one another.

Recently, one of our home-group friends sent out a group text that included a list of Bible verses instructing us about how we should treat one another. He called them "The One-Anothers." The purpose of his text was to let us know that he sees our group in such a way that fulfills the "one anothers" in Scripture. I looked over those verses several times thinking that I should probably memorize them. I would never intentionally mistreat someone, but sometimes I can be impatient and temperamental. If we are all being honest with one another, I think we can all be impatient and temperamental sometimes. Hiding the "one anothers" in our hearts is one way we can remember how we should treat one another even when we feel impatient and temperamental.

How We Should Treat One Another

Let's read the "One Anothers" together. In our friend's words, these verses tell us "what we aspire to in our small group and the Body of Christ as a whole."

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans 12:16

Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:13

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Romans 15:14

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

And let us consider how we may spur one anther on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against another brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. James 4:11

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1:22

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5

Greet one another with a kiss of love. 1 Peter 5:14

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

The One Anothers Scripture Memory Packet

We just read through 23 verses about how we should treat one another. At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that it would be a good idea for me to memorize those verses. 23 verses is a lot of verses to memorize, at least for me. Some people find memorizing Scripture more challenging than others. I like to use cards to help me memorize Bible verses. I like to tape them all over the house in places where I will see them often. Then I practice reciting the verses whenever I see them.

Another good way for us to memorize Bible verses is to keep the cards in a purse or pocket so we can pull them out whenever we have time to practice them. You can practice them while waiting in a doctor's office or while waiting for a movie to start. You can pull out the cards and practice them whenever you can.

In order to help us all get started with memorizing these scripture verses, I've created a One Anothers Scripture Memory Packet. Of course you are free to print out this blog post or you can copy the verses above onto your own set of index cards, but if you are interested in my One Anothers Scritpure Memory Packet, it is available to you here.

The One-Anothers Scripture Memory Verse Packet

Hopefully, the Bible verses mentioned in this post will help us all remember how we should treat one another even when we are impatient, frustrated, and feeling temperamental toward others.