During the week a young man from a registered charity knocked on our door to let us know of one of their community services where they phone people who live alone and are at risk of accident or illness. It’s a lovely initiative and I’m thankful for it but as he spoke about it, it just reminded me of how wonderful it is to belong to one another and to be devoted to each other at St Michael’s. Now of course our church community is by no means perfect but we are commanded by God to be committed to one another. And the New Testament maybe surprisingly has around 50 to 60 specific commands to do with how we are to relate to one another as the body of Christ. That’s quite a lot! Here are some to ponder!
Are there any that surprise you?
Love one another. John 13:35
Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
Live in harmony with one another. Romans 12:16
Accept one another. Romans 15:7
Instruct one another. Romans 15:14
Agree with one another. 1 Corinthians 1:10
Serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13
Be kind and compassionate to one another. Ephesians 4:32
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Ephesians 5:19
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21
Bear with each other and forgive one another. Colossians 3:13
Teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. Colossians 3:16
Encourage one another and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
Do not slander one another. James 4:11
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9
You who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. 1 Peter 5:5
Have equal concern for each other. 1 Corinthians 12:25
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:26
Carry each other’s burdens. Galatians 6:2
Don’t grumble against one other. James 5:9
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other. James 5:16
Are there ones here that would be good to pay attention to in our church life?
Interestingly from a different angle, Ray Ortlund on his blog writes about one another commands that aren’t in the NT.
“For example, sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, marginalize one another, exclude one another, judge one another, run one another’s lives, confess one another’s sins . . . .”
Are there ones here that we are prone to doing?
He goes on to make the point that how we treat one another reveals the kind of God we really believe in. He also points out that when we fail to treat each other like royalty it’s because we lack a certain gospel depth!
Did you notice one command I left out? That’s right, greet one another with a holy kiss! Maybe a phone call will do?
Liam Shannon
Assistant Minister
