Anchor Your Life

Together We Can Make a Difference

relationships

Our Response to God’s Forgiveness

By

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV) Ephesians 4:32

How are we to respond to God’s forgiveness of our sins? Simple. We are to forgive others just as God has forgiven you. You are expected to willingly grant forgiveness whenever another person confesses sin to you. You may be thinking: “Not a prayer of a chance! I can’t do this!” Well there’s hope. God has enabled you to forgive others. You can love even your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). But, remember, both forgiveness and Biblical love are not dependent upon your feelings, but instead, upon an act of your will (John 14:15; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15) as you respond to God’s love for you.

What we forgive:
Forgive any type of sin, no matter how severe or devastating it might seem to you.

How often we forgive:
Forgiveness is to be granted without limitation when requested. (Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4, 10)

Why we forgive:
We forgive on the basis of grace, not upon the merit of the person you are forgiving – remember, forgiveness gives the offender that he needs, rather than what he deserves.

What to expect after forgiveness:
You are to expect a renewed relationship with the one who is forgiven.

Forgiveness is not always easy. It may be costly to you when you grant forgiveness. And it may be difficult because forgiveness should include comforting those who have sinned (and have repented). On top of that, you are to reaffirm your love to them (2 Corinthians 2:6-8). . .and when you forgive completely, you are not to remind the forgiven person of his sin in an accusing manner. (NOTE: It may not be appropriate to release the offender from all the consequences of his sin. There are times to remind the individual of his sin for his own restoration or for teaching purposes. But, even then it must be done with a spirit of gentleness).

Forgiveness can be tough. . . but, isn’t it wonderful that no matter what sins we have committed that God never withholds His forgiveness from us!

Share

Marks of Community: Fellowship

By

Gathering Together

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV) Acts 2:42-47

Luke tells us in Acts 2:42 that the early church was distinguished by 4 things. The were devoted to:

  • The apostles’ teaching,
  • Fellowship with one another,
  • “Breaking of bread,” and
  • Prayer.

It is just as important today for us to be devoted to the Word of God as it was in the 1st century. Chuck Colson says: “When the people of God, united in His name, proclaim the Word of God, they can turn their world upside down.” The early church definitely turned their world upside down! But, they were not only devoted to the Word, but also to fellowship with one another. Authentic Biblical fellowship assumes and requires face-to-face communication, whether in New Testament times or in today’s Internet era.

Why are relationships so important? Apart from God himself, there will only be two things in eternity: God’s Word and God’s people, living in relationship with Him. This reality alone should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We should be striving to have God-honoring relationships in our lives. I know people who are looking forward to Heaven to “get away from certain people” (often in our own churches). What they forget is that many of those people they are longing to escape from will be with them for eternity!

Luke’s reference to “the fellowship” implies that there was something distinctive in the gatherings of the early believers. One of those distinctives is found in
Acts 4:32: “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” The whole congregation was united to one another in their allegiance to Jesus.

What about you? Are you striving to have God-honoring relationships? Are you diligently striving to be of one heart and mind with other Christians?

Share

Steps Towards Resolving Conflict

By

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (NIV) Ephesians 4:32

Conflict. It exists everywhere, potentially in every relationship. But, for Christians, no conflict is unresolvable!

There are three primary ways that people respond to conflict:
1) To escape – to flee the conflict or deny the conflict exists;
2) To attack others in the midst of the conflict; or
3) To seek reconciliation. Conflict cannot and should not, be ignored.

If conflict is left alone, it won’t go away, but rather will only grow. Biblically, we are commanded to maintain the harmony and unity of the Body by resolving conflict and seeking reconciliation.

Genuine forgiveness is the first step towards reconciliation. Unfortunately, even though Christians have experienced the greatest forgiveness in the world by God, we often fail to extend that forgiveness to others. When you refuse to forgive, you sin (James 4:17). It’s that plain and simple!

As a Christian, when you fail to forgive another, you show that:

  • You have no gratitude for God’s forgiveness of you (Matthew 18:32-33)
  • You are not following the example of sacrificial love that God demonstrated through Jesus (Ephesians 4:32; 1 John 4:10-11)
  • You are choosing to disobey God’s Word by holding on to a wrong suffered – or in other words, you are harboring a grudge (1 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 4:32).

The consequences of unforgiveness are steep:

  • For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NIV) Matthew 6:14-15
  • When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 11:32
  • And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” . . .No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV) Hebrews 12:5-6; 11

But, you may be saying, “You don’t know what he or she did to me! I don’t feel like forgiving!” It’s not a matter of how you feel. . .you can and must obey Scripture and forgive others as God has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13)! It’s not a question of if you feel like it. . . it’s a matter of obedience.

Share

Maintaining Unity

By

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV) Matthew 22:36-40

The reality of loving God with the intensity of the first command, is directly linked to our loving others in a Biblical manner. John wrote about the correlation between loving God and loving others in 1 John:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . .If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (NIV) I John 4:7-11; 20-21.

Unfortunately loving others is inevitably difficult. Conflict exists everywhere. In every relationship, there is the potential for conflict. Listen to what Jesus says about the seriousness of resolving breaks in relationships:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (NIV) Matthew 5:23-24

Even when you are worshiping God or serving Him, and remember that someone (a spouse, another Christian, a neighbor, a co-worker) has something against you, you are to cease your worship, go and seek reconciliation, and then return to your worship. How many of us put that into practice?

The reason for seeking reconciliation with other Christians is to eliminate divisions among believers. Unity of mind and purpose should characterize believers since the unity of the body of Christ (or the church) is from and in the Holy Spirit.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (NIV) John 17:20-23

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 1:10

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (NIV) Philippians 2:1-2

For Christians, no conflict is unresolvable!

Share

Love One Another

By

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (NIV) John 13:34-35

Loving and caring for one another is not an option for the Christian. It is a mandate. Our love for one another is the solid proof of our love for the God.

  • My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
  • This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:17)
  • Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10)
  • Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. (Romans 12:10)
  • You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  (Galatians 5:13)
  • Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
  • May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
  • Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. (1 Thessalonians 4:9)
  • And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
  • Keep on loving each other as brothers. (Hebrews 13:1)
  • Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1 Peter 1:22)
  • Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8)
  • Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
  • This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. (I John 3:11)
  • And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (I John 3:23)
  • Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  (I John 4:7)
  • Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (I John 4:11)
  • No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (I John 4:12)
  • And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. (2 John 1:5)

Written by Marji “Mike” Kruger

Share

Love One Another

By

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (NIV) John 13:34-35

God created us to be in relationship with Himself and with others. In eternity there will only be 2 things apart from God. . .God’s Word and God’s children. The reality of this should challenge us to seek to have more God-honoring relationships now. There are over 50 references in the New Testament about how we are to relate to “one another.” Most of these passages address our behavior, not just our attitudes.

  • “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35
  • Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
  • You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13
  • Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
  • And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
  • Keep on loving each other as brothers.  Hebrews 13:1
  • Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.  1 Peter 1:22
  • Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  1 Peter 3:8
  • Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
  • This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  I John 3:11
  • And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. I John 3:23
  • Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. I John 4:7
  • Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. I John 4:11
  • No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. I John 4:12
  • And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. II John 1:5

How can you better extend your love to one another?

Written by Marji “Mike” Kruger

Share

Love's Lifestyle

By

. . .live a life of love. . . (NIV) Ephesians 5:2

When God’s love is awakened within a soul, it transforms character. The transformation is increasing Christ-likeness.

** Love provides motivation. Paul wrote that it is Christ’s love that compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14). God wants to bring us to the point where we no longer live for ourselves, but for Him.
** Love prompts obedience. Anything less than obedience prompted from love, eventually falters. Simply stated the one who loves, is the one who obeys. True love for God prompts obedience, which in turn deepens our relationship with God and increases our faith.
** Love provides purpose. Not only does God call us to love Him, He also calls us to love others. Only such a love can begin to capture the wonderful purpose that God has for His children.
** Love compels concern. Love moves believers to freely and sacrificially share with others.
** Love stabilizes relationships. Only Christ-like love can maintain relationships and preserve the unity in the body of Christ.

How are you growing in your love? How is Christ’s love for you tranforming your character? If you’re not sure how to live a life of love, try reading 1 Corithians 13 and make it your goal to live a lifestyle of love each day!

Share

© 1997-2024 Anchor Your Life All Rights Reserved