Love One Another
One of the most important topics we should hear is found in Jesus’ desire about who we should be. Jesus told His disciples: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). In other words: if we show love by our actions the world will notice.
This was not some passing comment that Jesus made. James calls it the royal law, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well” (James 2:8)
The apostle Paul when he was telling the Galatians about what the Spirit does when we allow him to live in our lives, says that love is at the top of the list: “the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Notice, LOVE was the very first item on the list.
The phrase “Love one another” shows up about 14 or 15 times in the New Testament. But the phrase “one another” is used 58 times and they say much about loving one another: “Greet one another,” “Bear with one another,” and “Be devoted to one another” are but a few examples. It’s the “one anothers” in the Bible that pull us together as family of God.
Paul declares “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.” This “law of Christ” is what James called “the royal law.” So Paul is saying that when you can carry another’s other’s burdens you are showing love. We can do this by praying for each other, helping each other with financial needs, making food for someone when they’ve been sick, sending cards and making phone calls to express concern or encourage, and so much more!
I heard one person say that the church is like a bunch of porcupines trying to get together to get warm. They might get warm, but they can also can get hurt. They get hurt because too often we can be hard on each other.
Just before Paul described the “fruit” of the Spirit, just a few verses earlier he said, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:14-15).
That sounds like ...
