One Another

I posted a while back about all of the "one another" verses in the Bible and putting them to practice in our relationships. Well, someone just posted the following in the online community I'm part of, and I can't stop thinking about it...


Answers in the Bible--here's something that may seem very obvious to you or others, or may not have occured, as it didn't to me for a long time.

When the Bible says how to treat others--our family are "others!" I used to look just for parenting advice, but when I started looking for how to treat others & applying it to family, wow!

Some big ones:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Love is patient--am I patient with my children? I spent a month praying just that. Love is kind. Is my tone, words, actions, kind? I spent a year praying through attributes one per month like this & God really worked in my heart.

Galatians 6:1-2--if someone is caught in a sin, restore him gently. Wow, there's a zinger for parents!

Matthew 7:3-5--take the plank out of your own eye so you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's (child's) eye.

All the "one another" verses. Love one another, be kind to one another, forgiving one another--how easy it is to discipline when angry, when inconvenienced, when embarrassed in front of others--instead of disciplining in love, with what's best for our child in mind, from a heart that has forgiven your child.


I think the same thing could easily be applied to marriage. It's like that saying about how many times we treat strangers on the street better than we treat our loved ones. Maybe I'm the only one who does that, but either way, I really think this is life changing. I have no idea how I could blindly read these verses and only apply them to "others" and not to my marriage or my children (well, except for 1 Corinthians 13 – at least I thought of that one in terms of my marriage, even if I haven't always applied it very well!)

Anyway, my goal is to read through ALL of these verses, applying them and praying through them! You gotta feel bad for the first children (no wonder we turn out so neurotic!), when parents are still learning even just the basics of how to parent! :P