Faith Essentials 5 -HOW TO DO LIFE WITH OTHERS WELL?

The greatest commandment God gave us is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:36 – 40).

God designed us to do life together with Him and with each other.

He has placed us in two types of families; natural and spiritual.

Natural Family Relationships
God designed the family. He designed it to be a place of love and security where children can be raised and nurtured.

God started the family unit with marriage. Let’s read the words of Jesus in Matthew 19.5-6 (Jesus is actually quoting Genesis 2.24)
This unity between a man and his wife creates such a foundation of love and security for a family, where children can be raised and nurtured.

The devil loves to attack the family unit. The bible says he “has come to steal, kill and destroy” from our lives. But Jesus came to bring life “more abundant” or “to the full”.

Read Matthew 19:5-6 again. What do you think this says about;
Marriage?
Sex and sexuality?
What effect could it have on the family unit?

Here are a few scriptures to show us God's heart for our roles in the family;

HUSBANDS (Ephesians 5:25): Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

WIVES (Ephesians 5:33): However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

CHILDREN (Ephesians 6:1 – 3): Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honour your father and mother’– which is the first commandment with a promise – ‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

PARENTS
“Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.” Col 3.21 NLT

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (Proverbs 22:6) NLT

Let’s put Gods word into our lives. What is one way you could improve a family relationship this week?

As a Christian we now have a natural family and a church family. Let’s explore God’s word for what He says about our relationships in His church;

Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.

Galatians 6:10 (NLT) Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

At INChurch we emphasize doing life together by meeting weekly in small groups called Connect Groups. In these Connect Groups we make authentic friendships, care for one another, pray for one another, grow in our faith and discover our purpose.

How can you connect in better with your church family?

Once we become a Christian we don't live in a Christian 'bubble'. We live among our community and shine the light that Jesus has put in us. The way we can shine is through our behaviour and heart to love and serve others.
One of the places we can shine is in our workplace. Consider this scripture;

Ephesians 6:5-9 (NLT) 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favourites.

Let’s put Gods word into our lives. What is one way you could improve relationships at work in light of this scripture?

The Bible has great wisdom about friendships. Here are two examples;

33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians 15.33

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13.20

Consider your friends. Have you got wise friends? Do those you spend the most time with encourage your faith and bring wisdom into your life? Who are friends you could spend more time? How could you make more wise friends?

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Romans 12:10

The Strategy is to:

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:15 – 16 (NLT)

The Strategy is to:

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. James 1:19 – 20 (NLT)

The Strategy is to:

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:14 – 15 (NLT)

The Strategy is to: