The Key to Extreme Relationships
Jesus knows your heart. He knows the difficulty we all have at times with one another. As humans, we all are tempted to gossip, judge, get angry, and accuse one another.
And yet, Jesus truly desires for us to love one another…and model his love to the world. Listen to what He told his disciples in some of his last comments to them: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35).
How many times have we failed Jesus by disobeying this command? Unfortunately, far too often.
Love is the key to extreme relationships…but how do we get it? God gives us the answer in Paul’s letter to Timothy:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Q Look closely at this verse. Where does love come from?
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As you learned in lesson 3, love is a “fruit of the Spirit” and is a gift the Holy Spirit gives to all who abide in Christ.
Since “love” is the key to extreme relationships, it is vital to know what love really means, and how it “plays out” in your daily interaction with others. (Read Galatians 5:22.)
The Corinthian Church was full of “baby” Christians whom Paul called “carnal”, or “fleshly”. They had accepted Christ’s love for them, but treated each other largely from a selfish point of view. They were jealous, and continually griping and arguing (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
Q What do you think is the solution to that kind of behavior?
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Paul told the Corinthians what Christ’s love would look like if they were controlled by the Holy Spirit:
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
** Read the entire 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, and write down your thoughts:
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If you recall from lesson 3 of this study, the Holy Spirit gives you his extreme power to love with Christ’s love by faith. You can’t generate it on your own. Love is the result of abiding in Christ.