Mentoring Minutes

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”Paul  (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 I have accepted you.” How are you doing with those whom you find disagreeable, contradictory, negative, pessimistic, unrealistic, abrasive or just down right mean?

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

As we continue with how we are to love “one another” we find Paul charging us, just a few verses later, 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!

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).

Our last “one another” for today 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 embrace, speak blessings in The Spirit and other cordial connections of fellowship and love. In this way we show each other that we care.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – I pray we will take to heart these and all of the “One Anothers” that help us to love in such a way that The Spirit and Love of Christ become more and more evident in and through us. We are all welcome in Christ for He has made it so by His Grace for all who believe in Him!

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s)

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
3. How do you accept others in Christ? How do you accept and share instruction in Him?

In what ways can you step outside your own insecurities and learn in Christ and The Holy Spirit to greet others with Holy and Godly affection?

Contact us at loveandlordship@gmail.com.

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

As I stated last week, in one way or another all the “one anothers” point to love and loving one another. That’s why Jesus could sum up all the law and the prophets with the two greatest commands and in fulfilling the second command The Holy Spirit guided men to write all the “one anothers.” Remember we can only fulfill the second greatest command as we first fulfill the greatest command of loving and worshiping God.

With this in mind our next “one another” is found just a little further on in Romans 12 where we find in v. 16 that we are to “Live in harmony with one another…”

What we so often do with this and similar “one anothers” is respond, not so much in word as in deed, by living in harmony with those who choose to live in harmony with us. God’s command is for us to do so even with those who may not be so harmonious and especially with those who may be from a different socioeconomic position.

Oswald Chambers states it this way, “God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God (there’s that 1^st and Greatest command again) the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them.” (https://utmost.org/helpful-or-heartless-toward-others/).

Our role as Christ followers is to be the ones that live in harmony as much as we possibly can (without compromising His Truth and even as we stand in His Truth it is in grace and without condemnation as we can always trust and leave that to Him). Paul explains this a little further in v. 18 when he instructs that “as much as it is possible with us we are to live at peace with ALL people.” (Caps mine and added for emphasis)

God places some pretty “prickly” people in our lives and our job in showing them Christ is to love them, and in the case of today’s “one another” to live in harmony and be at peace with every other person as much as we possibly can to show them His Love.

How are you doing when it comes to loving others by being harmonious and peaceful with them? Your spouse? Children? Friends? Church family? Coworkers? Enemies? What upsets your harmony and peace?

Our next “one another” comes back full circle as Paul is wrapping up his letter to the Romans under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit. He has commanded (remember, not demanded but commanded those who will obediently follow through in love) believers to be devoted to, honor, live in harmony with and be at peace with…one another.

So in Romans 13:8-10 he echoes what John shared in his Gospel that we are to “love one another.” However, in this text Paul has moved from personal discipline and maturity, even beyond relational and communal love (all of which certainly still apply) and he is talking about honoring all authorities (even in the midst of the pagan, polytheistic Roman government and religion).

He tells us that in our honoring of the authorities, which God Himself has ordained and established, that the best and only way to fulfill the law and honor all authority is by owing nothing to anyone except that…we love one another.

As the early Christians followed these commands they turned the world upside down. That same Love of God in and through Christ’s followers today can and will accomplish the same thing in a world whose love has grown and is growing increasingly cold (Matthew 24:12). We are the ones, as Christ followers, who alone can show a hardened world the real Love of God!

So let’s continue to grow in our love for God and allow His Love in and through us to impact this world and culture to know Christ.

Our final “One Another” for this week’s L&L LIVE is one that we all need to hear and, if we’re honest with ourselves, one that is not so easily adhered to in our lives and relationships. Yet, we must remember that every “One Another” is rooted in and part of the deeper commandment to “love one another.” Whenever we are failing to be obedient to any of these “one another” commands we are falling short in our love for God and others…thank God for His grace and mercy.

As Paul closes his letter to the church at Rome, he gives us some of the most difficult and yet powerful “one anothers” beginning in Romans 14:13 where he instructs us, by the leading of The Holy Spirit, to …Stop passing judgment on one another.” OUCH! But they deserve it! That’s exactly the point…apart from Christ we all deserve nothing but judgment. Thanks be to God that because of Christ, His “mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

This does not mean that there is, nor will be, no judgment, but simply that those who truly believe in Christ have already received, by His great mercy, our judgment that Christ took for us. Only those who don’t know Christ after all they’ve been shown and given and rejected His mercy will receive judgment.

For us as believers though, the first thing we must acknowledge in this command is that The Holy Spirit is telling us to stop doing something that we are doing to others…OUCH! He goes on in that same command in v. 13 and expands by telling us to stop putting obstacles or stumbling blocks in the path of others. That’s a strong indictment as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8:9 that we must be very careful not to use the freedom that we’ve been given in Christ to lay burdens on others…essentially don’t put stumbling blocks in their path to freedom and growth in Christ.

This is what standing in judgment of others does to us, making us appear “holier than thou” in our attitude and turning them away from Christ rather than toward Him.

In order to truly love one another we must stop judging each other. There is a time to point out sin but it is in grace, truth and love, and only after I have confessed, dealt with and laid my own sin before God, leaving the ultimate judgment to Christ (Matthew 7:1-5).

Forgiveness, not judgment, if what we need to love one another.

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Whatever you do, take time to watch this video (linked at loveandlordship.com) and share it with those you know need it and/or those that you’ve been judging or begrudging…it’s not worth it! Forgive and love like Jesus…”A Heart That Forgives” by Kevin LeVar… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=indCvnD4Ji4

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s)

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
3. Find someone you may not normally associate with and start a conversation to learn more about them and share who you are in Christ with them
4. Find someone you are holding a grudge against and ask The Spirit to show you how to forgive them…then ask them for forgiveness for your unforgiving spirit toward them

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” Jesus (John 15:12)

Jesus command for us to love others as He loves us does not negate the 2 greatest commands…it reinforces them…and can’t be done without first obeying them!

We continue with another “one another” and surprise, surprise and just as promised last week… it is “love one another” and we find it as Jesus continues with His teaching, encouraging and challenging His disciples in the Upper Room. This is all happening on the night He is betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter and abandoned by all of His disciples.

His teaching that followed His example, even knowing they would all walk away during His greatest hardship is found in John 15:12-17 where He reiterates two more times a “new” commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.”

This must be pretty important for Him to continue to drive home the point that they are to love each other the way that He loved them…and we are to do the same.

Remember His first love was not for us (I know we seldom hear messages about this in our “me first” culture) but His first love was for His Father and He wanted (wants) us to love the way that He did (does). The only way we can do this is to first love Our Heavenly Father and Christ by The Holy Spirit in us and then let that love overflow in our love for one another!

What is your source of love for others? Is it rooted in your feelings, attraction, experiences, etc.? Or is it rooted in the unfailing, self-giving, sacrificial Love from God that prefers Him above all else (agape) as it flows through us to others?

As I mentioned in a previous devotional, 11 of the 59 “one anothers” in Scripture are specifically “love on another” and we shared five of those in the last few days. Must be pretty important if The Holy Spirit repeated it so often…and we know that it is because it is how the world sees the Love of God by how we love Him and others in His Love.

Our next “one another” is a more specific way that we are to love one another and it is found in Romans 12:10 (entire chapter is great for practical living and loving in Christ). Here Paul goes a little deeper and tells us to “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love…” This is both a personal and collective command as the Greek words here for love is “philostorgos” which means tender affection toward others and “philadelphia” (sound familiar) which literally means brotherly love and affection.

He also tells us in this verse that the way we do this is to “honor one another above self.” We can only do this in humility by knowing who we are in Christ so we can choose to lift others above ourselves…this is being devoted to one another in caring and affectionate love.

This is how we are to love others by being devoted to caring for them with affection individually whenever needed, and remember that we can’t do this without knowing God’s love, loving Him first and then loving who we are so we can die to self to affectionately love and care for others!

I pray that you know this love both in how to love God and others and in receiving this kind of love from others…in your marriage, family, church family and friends…all others.

How awesome is it that God has given us very plainly in His Word how we are to love…Him, self and then be able to die to self, just as Christ did, in our love for others.

The “one another” that we have for today is a continuation in Romans 12:10 telling us to “Honor one another above yourselves.” If I don’t know who I am in Christ, confident and content, growing in who He has recreated me to be in Him, then I will struggle to lift and place others above myself.

We must understand that as long as we’re in our flesh we will not be able to truly accomplish any of these “one anothers” even though we can be very active in making it look like we are. This is the posture of many in our churches today who are active in serving in the flesh with very little time in God’s Word, prayer and listening to Him in order to know His Love, know how to love Him with all we are and then love who He is revealing to us that we are in Christ.

We need to ask the Lord to help us to honor and esteem others above our self in every relationship and opportunity as He prunes, purges, prepares and cleanses us of self so that it is Christ coming through us for others to see and know. Let us love in Truth and not hypocritically as we make it an overflow of His Love in and through us to others (Romans 12:9).

Love and Lordship…Food for Thought – Very simply put, loving, honoring or esteeming someone above yourself is saying or doing something with or for them that encourages or lifts them up, even and especially, at a cost to your own ego or success. Let’s love and honor others above ourselves to show them the Love of Jesus!

Love and Lordship…Action Item(s)

1. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer daily – read and study the Scriptures in this post as a way to start
2. Ask The Holy Spirit to teach you
3. Find someone close to you each day this week and do something to honor the above yourself
4. Find someone that you struggle to get along with and make an effort to do something practical to show them honor and love