Let Love Rule!

So, I'm taking a little time today to study for the 12:3 Conspiracy. We are in week eight of the studies and I'm looking forward to teaching Romans 12:9 on Sunday. I thought it was cool that the 12:3 Conspiracy was starting Romans 12:9 (Let love be genuine...) on the same day we are starting our introduction to the 40 Days of Love at LHC. Anyway, I'm reflecting on something that I haven't done in a while and wanted to share it with you.

In his brilliant little book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has a chapter entitled, The Day with Others that talks about starting your day in reflection of Christ's sacrifice and readings in Scripture, especially the psalms. Then, Bonhoeffer tells us how to end our day in the fellowship of others. Bonhoeffer writes, "The early morning belongs to Christ...the break of light remembers the morning on which death and sin lay prostrate in defeat and new life and salvation were given to mankind." This is how we should start every morning if we are to take on the task of spending the day with others.

Spending the day with others, huh, I've never thought of it that way. Most of our lives are lived in routine. We are around the same people, almost everyday. The same people at work, church, the gym, Starbucks, and most routinely, our families. Do we genuinely think of the "routines" as "others?" I think there is a way to start. It's called practicing the one anothers.

Practicing the "one anothers" from Scripture starts by knowing what they are. Here's a list:

John 13:34
Love one another

Rom. 12:10
Be devoted to one another

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another

Rom. 15:7
Accept one another

Gal. 5:13
Serve one another in love

Eph. 4:2
Put up with one another

Eph. 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another

Col. 3:16
Teach and admonish one another

Heb. 3:13
Encourage one another daily

1 Pet. 4:9
Offer hospitality to one another

Ok, so it's easy. First, memorize the list so you can recall the one's you need at any given circumstance. However, while you're memorizing them, you could practice at least one a day. Let's say you choose "devoted to one another." What does the word "devoted" mean? According to Webster's it means: to give up or appropriate to or concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc. When's the last time you spent time with others like that?

It would be cool to get some comments on this blog and to hear how this "practice of the one anothers" is going for you. Any ideas of how you are doing this? Any stories that could encourage someone else? Let me hear from you.

Pulling Back, Disconnecting or Whatever You Want to Call It

You never know what a day will bring. It's funny how you can wake up, go about your day, and then, something out of blue happens and you think, didn't see that one coming. I had one of those days on Wednesday. Just when I was wrapping up my day and headed home—BAM! A phone call that changed everything! It changed the whole trajectory of my day, my countenance, emotions—everything.

After the phone call, I got into a mindset that usually happens after I get news like that. I kind of go into this "disconnection" mode where I begin pulling back from people and responsibilities. Have you been there? I think we all "disengage" from time to time, but, sometimes I wonder if that's really healthy? I know all of us go through emotional ups and downs, but what I'm talking about here is cutting loose, hiding out, abdicating our relationships because we are "knocked for a loop." I'm not sure how healthy it is. Any thoughts?

I guess the danger is that we tend to "disappear" or "go dark", as one of my friends puts it, when we face some kind of stress or relational disaster. I think that's when we need the people around us to recognize when and how we start fading. I have had plenty of people recognized my countenance looking a little down the last couple of days, however, I have tried to blow it off as "I'm tired" or "I'm good, no worries." Funny, how we have gotten in the habit of offering these trite expressions. We might as well be saying, "No thanks, I don't need your encouragement or prayers today. Maybe next time when I'm in a better mood." This can no longer be. I know God has surrounded me with people who care. I'm not "putting them out" by sharing how my stresses are bogging me down. Most of these people are my friends, I like to call them "my cushion."

Maybe it's time for some of us to re-engage. Some of us have been disengaged so long we can't remember the last time we allowed ourselves to be encouraged by another. We end up playing a victim and think we deserve a time-out. Well, in a lot of cases we do deserve a time-out, but we don't deserve an off-season. We don't deserve to just quit the game. A time-out is fine, but we must gather our emotions, change our mindset and re-engage with 100% assurance that we can make it. Why? Because, you may need to be the cushion in someone else's life today. You never know what a day will bring.

Below are Scriptures that include the phrase "one another" that might encourage you.

John 13:34
Love one another

Rom. 12:10
Be devoted to one another

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another

Rom. 15:7
Accept one another

Gal. 5:13
Serve one another in love

Eph. 4:2
Put up with one another

Eph. 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another

Col. 3:16
Teach and admonish one another

Heb. 3:13
Encourage one another daily

1 Pet. 4:9
Offer hospitality to one another