Love

How many of you have ever muttered the phrase, "What am I going to do with you"? I can hear it coming from a mother who has just walked in on her child coloring on the walls. I can hear it from an exasperated couple arguing with each other. I can hear it from friends who have come into sharp disagreement. I can hear it coming from church members who have yet to find agreement on an issue they consider important. In almost every circumstance it is uttered not merely with bewilderment but also because the true desire of the heart is to love the other person.

In preparation for the study of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 I was struck by the requirement we have to serve one another. So I started looking through the scriptures and I arrived at 65 verses which explicitly give direction for how we as Christians are supposed to treat one another. It seemed an excellent opportunity for a truly applicational study. With so many verses we could easily get bogged down in detail but let's move quickly through this and I'll provide a complete listing¹ of verses for you to reference for your own study.

If we start at the beginning we turn to the most important commandment for dealing with anyone else on the planet...

According to a Mexican legend, San Ysidro was plowing his garden when an angel appeared: “The Lord wants to see you, Ysidro. Come with me.” But Ysidro was busy. He refused the command.

Again the angel appeared: “Unless you come at once, the Lord will send winds and drought to wither your corn.” Ysidro was unperturbed. He had fought the wind before; drought could be relieved by river.

Twice more the angel appeared, but Ysidro would not leave his work. The fourth time, the angel said simply: “If you do not come with me, the Lord will send you a bad neighbor.”