How to Love One Another: Affirm, Share, and Serve
Most of us are familiar with the “one another” commands of the New Testament. In the study guide for Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, Tim Keller offers a helpful taxonomy under the categories of affirming one another, sharing with one another, and serving one another. These form, he says, “nine ‘community-building practices’—specific behaviors that build Christian community.” For a more detailed unpacking of each point, see pp. 58-71.
Affirm
1. Affirm one another’s strengths, abilities, and gifts.
- Romans 12:10: “Honor one another”
- James 5:9: “Don’t grumble against each other”
- Romans 12:3-8: Confirm the gifts of one another
2. Affirm one another’s equal importance in Christ.
- Romans 15:7: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you”
- 1 Corinthians 12:25: “Have equal concern for each other”
- 1 Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”
- James 2:1: “Don’t show favoritism”
3. Affirm one another through visible affection.
- Romans 16:16: “Greet one another with a holy kiss”
- James 1:19: “Be quick to listen, slow to speak”
- Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another”
- 1 Thessalonians 3:12: “[May] your love increase and overflow for each other”
Share
4. Share one another’s space, goods, and time.
- Romans 12:10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love”
- 1 Peter 4:9: “Offer hospitality to one another”
- Galatians 6:10: “As we have opportunity, let us do good”
5. Share one another’s needs and problems.
- Galatians 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Encourage one another”
- Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another daily”
6. Share one another’s beliefs, thinking, and spirituality.
- Colossians 3:16: “Teach and admonish one another”
- Ephesians 5:19: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”
- Romans 12:16: “Live in harmony with one another”
- 1 Corinthians 1:10: “Agree with one another”
Serve
7. Serve one another through accountability.
- James 5:16: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”
- Romans 15:14: “Instruct one another”
- Ephesians 4:25: “Speak truthfully”
8. Serve one another through forgiveness and reconciliation.
- Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”
- Colossians 3:13: “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another”
- Galatians 5:25: Don’t provoke or envy one another
- James 4:11: “Do not slander one another”
- Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15: Reestablish broken relationships with one another
9. Serve one another’s interests rather than our own.
- Hebrews 10:24: “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”
- Romans 15:1-2: Don’t please yourself but please others
- Galatians 5:13: “Serve one another”
