love part 2

What do you want most out of life? Most of us would rank healthy relationships high on the list. Except for knowing Christ and having eternal life, healthy relationships make life enjoyable perhaps more than anything else. Even if your health isn’t the best, if you have loving relationships, you can enjoy life. You can make a pile of money, but if your relationships are broken or shallow, your life will be empty. A poor man with a loving family and good friends is far richer than a rich man who is poor relationally. The Bible ranks healthy relationships as the most important thing in life. A Jewish religious expert asked Jesus (Matt. 22:36), “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied (Matt. 22:37-40): “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” A loving relationship with God is of first importance; but loving relationships with others is second. The Bible is all about these two important relationships. Because the Bible emphasizes healthy relationships so highly, it’s sad that there are so many believers who have hurting or broken relationships. Many Christian homes have been shattered by divorce. Some who stay married are unhappy. Their homes are a tense battle ground, not a loving refuge. Many Christian parents are at odds with their kids and the kids with their parents. On the church level, some bounce from church to church, leaving a trail of damaged relationships behind. I know of Christians who won’t speak to other Christians because of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and wrongs that have taken place. Sadly, the loving families, genuine friendships, and healthy relationships that we want most out of life often elude us Actually, there are five nouns: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, which are probably set in contrast to the five sins in verse 5 and the five other sins in verse 8. “Bearing with one another and forgiving each other” describe the way in which those five virtues are put into practice. But I’m going to treat forbearance and forgiveness as two additional qualities that help our relationships be healthy. Before we look at these qualities, I have two observations. First, every Christian should have these character qualities, but there is freedom for different personality types. In other words, all mature Christians aren’t going to have the same generic personality. These qualities will take one form with a Barnabas, another with a Paul, and another with a Peter. Part of the glory of God’s creation is the variety of personalities which He has given us and that He has a special purpose for each one. While He knocks the rough edges off each type of personality, He doesn’t erase the differences. Whether you’re hard-driving or laid back, extrovert or introvert, people-oriented or task-oriented, God wants you to have these character qualities. Second, all these character qualities are modeled in Jesus Christ. He was compassionate and kind (Matt. 9:36; 14:14), humble and gentle (Matt. 11:29), patient, forbearing, and forgiving (1 Pet. 2:23; Luke 23:34). He is our great example of how to relate to others. As we learn to put on these qualities, we’re really putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14) and becoming more like Him. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. We should treat others with compassion. We should treat others with kindness. We should treat others with humility We should treat others with gentleness We should treat others with patience We should treat others with forbearance We should treat others with forgiveness So, because God graciously chose us in love to be set apart to Himself, we should treat others with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and forgiveness. His gracious, loving treatment of us is the basis for our treatment of others. Maybe you’re wondering, “Where do I start?” You may need to begin by focusing on your relationship with God. Have you trusted in Christ as your Savior so that you’ve truly experienced His forgiveness, mercy, and love? You can’t love others as you should until you’re rightly related to God.