Mentoring Minutes – Page 20 – Love and Lordship

Greet One Another…With a Kiss?

“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” Paul (Romans 16:16)

Love and Lordship in Focus…There is great significance in how we greet one another…but do we have to do it with a kiss? Well, maybe. Let’s take a look at how we can be obedient to the “one another” that is “greet one another” and show Christ’s Love to them.

Our next “one another” may be difficult to grasp in today’s licentious culture but it is powerful as we see it in the context of God’s Word.

This “one another” is found five times with four of them in Paul’s letters to the Romans (16:16) and in both of the Corinthian letters in Scripture (1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12), his first letter to the Thessalonian church (1 Thessalonians 5:26), and finally, in Peter’s first letter to the churches (5:14)! Each of these confirms that there was a significance in this command that we need to seek more deeply to understand what God is calling us to.

This command is “greet one another with a holy kiss.” It is the same exact phrase in our English language in each of these commands by Paul and Peter…two pillars of our faith and of Christ’s Church (except where Paul to the Thessalonians tells them to greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss).

In our culture this becomes difficult to embrace because of our sexualized, pornified society that may either ignore it or carry it too far. Simply explained, most scholars believe that this command was a form of salutation to do one or both of the following: 1) share a blessing of loving fellowship with each other by passing on the pneuma (breath of life and blessing) in The Spirit, and/or; 2) this kiss represented the symbol and a bonding of family…the Family of Christ!

We must never separate this act of a greeting and affection from the descriptor of “holy,” meaning pure and sacred. Many cultures still practice the literal kiss of some kind and in Christ’s Church it must be rooted in the holiness aspect above all else to express the affection, blessing and encouragement it is meant to share.

Probably the greatest example of this becoming perverted and twisted was in Judas’s kiss of betrayal with Christ, as he greeted Him, in pointing out to the authorities that He was the one they were to arrest (Matthew 26:49; Luke 22:48).

While we may not literally kiss one another, we offer other exchanges that represent this command as we shake hands, embrace, speak blessings in The Spirit and other cordial connections of fellowship and love.

Don’t allow your insecurities to keep you from genuinely connecting with those in the Body of Christ. In this way we show each other that we care just as Christ cares for us. In this way we show each other that we care.

Food for Thought…I want to have the heart of Christ for others. Evidently how I greet them is important when it comes to expressing His Love in and through me. May we take to heart how we are to greet and welcome others with the affection of the early church who learned from those who had been with Christ!

Love in Action –

Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
What do your welcome or greetings to others state as to what they mean to you?
In what ways can you greet others to show them the Love of Christ?

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, as I grow in Your Love for me and mine for You may I learn to greet, welcome and engage with others in a way that expresses Your pure and Godly Love so they can see and know Jesus. In His Name. Amen.

Instruct One Another

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

Love and Lordship in Focus…Paul’s command from The Lord to “instruct one another” means that we are not only studied and prepared to help guide others but that we humbly accept instruction for them as well.

As we continue with how we are to love “one another” we find Paul charging us, just a few verses beyond the command to “accept one another is another command to “instruct one another” in Romans 15:14.

Not only does this mean that loving others in Christ’s family includes that we are to teach and guide them but that we are to receive instruction and teaching from others as well. We are to be maturing and found competent to both give and receive Godly instruction! The latter is usually more difficult than the former.

This is a major part of how we grow in Christ and as His Body, The Church. We do this only in the goodness and knowledge of Christ!

In the original Greek the word is also translated as “instruct, admonish, or warn” and Paul states this after telling us to learn to bear with those who are weaker (just as those who are stronger than us do the same for us) by denying self and as we quit living just to please ourselves. This teaching is obviously in line with Christ teaching His disciples (then and now) to die to self, deny self and live for Him and others above self.

WOW! This loving one another thing is tough. Why? Because apart from Christ our flesh is selfish so we can only do each of these “one anothers” consistently and truthfully as we grow in our surrender to Him and His Spirit lives in and empowers us to do so.

How are you doing when it comes to admonishing, warning and instructing others in humility and love? Are you growing and maturing in Christ, The Holy Spirit and His Word to be able to lovingly and truthfully instruct…and receive instructions with discernment and wisdom?

Remember that in all things that we are to speak the truth in love in order that we may grow as disciples and as His Church (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Food for Thought…Instruction in discipleship in Christ’s Church and among fellow believers is maturing in the ability to both share and teach as well as being humbly willing to be instructed.

Love in Action –

Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
What do your opportunities to instruct others look like? Are you gracious?
What do your opportunities to be instructed by others look like? Are you humble?

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, help me to be willing to study to show myself approved as a disciple of Christ who can graciously teach others. Help me also to humble myself and be willing to be taught by others in line with Your Word. Forgive me when it teach without grace and fail to humbly be taught. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Accept One Another

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

Love and Lordship in Focus…Accepting each other can only be done as we die to self and surrender to Christ living in us…only then can we receive others as they are and bring praise to God!

“Accept One Another” (Romans 15:7)

I pray each of us takes faithfully and seriously God’s “One Another” commands in Scripture as we continue to fulfill the Greatest Commands…Loving God with all we are, knowing and loving who we are in Christ so that we can love “one another” in all the way that He has expressed, called and commanded us to do.

Building off the somewhat difficult command to stop judging one another (as we closed out last week’s post) we find Paul taking it a step further as he continues to wrap up his letter to the Roman believers. In Romans 15:7, The Holy Spirit, through Paul’s quill, instructs us to “accept one another, just as Christ has accepted you (us).”

You mean I not only have to stop judging those who don’t see and do things exactly as I do…I have to accept those who are different, odd, funny and quirky to me? Yes, just like Christ has accepted them and me in all my quirky, odd, funny and weird ways.

Oswald Chambers states this kind of “One Another” love as follows, “The first thing God does is to knock pretense and the pious pose right out of me. The Holy Spirit reveals that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. “Now,” He says to me, “show the same love to others” — “Love as I have loved you.” “I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit My love to them as I have exhibited it to you.”

“Accept one another as Christ has accepted you.” The Apostle Paul

May we love and accept others as Christ has done for us so they can know Him.

Food for Thought…Christ accepted me (us) warts, scars, brokenness, sin and all. Are we willing to show others His Love by accepting them in the same way that He accepts you?

Love in Action –

Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
What does it look like for you to accept others as Christ accepted you?
How are you doing with those whom you find disagreeable, contradictory, negative, pessimistic, unrealistic, abrasive or just down right mean? Are you that way to anyone?

Love and Lordship Prayer Focus…Heavenly Father, forgive me when I pick and choose those that I want to accept and then justify it using Your Word. Help me to receive and accept all others as You have done with me but also be willing to share Your Truth in Love so they will not remain where they are…just as You have changed me. In Jesus Name. Amen.