Relating to People

1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7  Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The supremacy of love

1 JOHN 3:16-18  This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for our brothers and sisters! Rich people who see a brother or sister in need, yet close their hearts against them, cannot claim that they love God. My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

MARK 12:28-33  Now one of the experts in the law came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

1 CORINTHIANS 12:31b; 13:1-3, 13  [Paul:] And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. … 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Live a life of love

EPHESIANS 5:2  Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God.

Do things in love

1 CORINTHIANS 16:14  Everything you do should be done in love.

Love others as you love yourself

LEVEITICUS 19:18  Do not take revenge on anyone or continue to hate him, but love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

ROMANS 13:8-10  Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Love your enemies and do good to them

LUKE 6:27-28, 31  [Jesus:] But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

Be generous

1 TIMOTHY 6:18  [Paul, instructing Timothy what to teach believers:] Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others.

PROVERBS 21:26  All day long he [a lazy person] continues to crave, while the righteous one gives without holding back.

DEUTERONOMY 15:8  [Moses, to the Israelites:] Be generous to these poor people, and freely lend them as much as they need. Never be hard-hearted and tight-fisted with them.

Share with others

LUKE 3:11  John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

HEBREWS 13:16  And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Practice hospitality

ROMANS 12:13  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

HEBREWS 13:2  Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

LUKE 6:38  Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.

ACTS 20:35  [Paul to the Ephesian elders:] By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

Show mercy

ZECHARIAH 7:9  You must see that justice is done, and must show kindness and mercy to one another.

LUKE 6:36  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

MATTHEW 5:7  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Be compassionate

COLOSSIANS 3:12  [Paul, to believers:] You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Forgive others

LUKE 17:3-4  Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.

COLOSSIANS 3:13  Get along with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.

Forgive and God will forgive you

MATTHEW 6:14-15  If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. 15But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Do not judge others

JAMES 4:12  But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge – the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? 

If you judge others, God will judge you accordingly

MATTHEW 7:1-2  Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way as you judge others, and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to others.

Human judgment is typically superficial and inadequate, in contrast to God’s judgment

1 SAMUEL 16:6-7  When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Be gentle

PHILLIPIANS 4:5  Let everyone see your gentleness.

1 PETER 3:3-4  [Peter, addressing wives:] Your beauty should not be an external one, consisting of braided hair or the wearing of gold ornaments and dresses. Instead, it should be the inner disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great value in the sight of God.

Be patient

EPHESIANS 4:1-2  [Paul, to believers:] I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love

1 THESSALONIANS 5:14  [Paul, to believers:] Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.

Be meek

MATTHEW 5:38-42  [Jesus:] You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic, give him your coat also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you.

Do not take revenge, but instead wait for God to act

ROMANS 12:19  Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord.”

PROVERBS 20:22  Don’t say, “I’ll pay you back for the wrong you did.” Wait for the Lord, and he will make things right.

Seek peace

PSALMS 34:14  Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

ROMANS 12:18  Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.

PROVERBS 12:20  Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

MATTHEW 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.