Definition of "One Another"

One another means just what it says. It is like the sequoia trees of California which can grow as high as 300 feet above the ground. Several summers back I went on a trip to California with my daughter Jori's in-laws and we visited Sequoia National Park. I was surprised to discover that these Big Trees have very shallow root systems that reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of surface moisture. These closely connecting roots provide for each other against the storms and that's why they usually grow in clusters. Rarely will you see a redwood standing alone, because high winds would quickly uproot it! That's what one another means!!

Practicing the One Another's

Three years ago today, March 29, 2009, God had it in His mind for the beginning of a gift to be given to two women who had been praying, unbeknownst to the other, for the same thing for many years. Little did we know that a simple offer for a cup of coffee to be shared, would result in one of the sweetest friendships either could possibly imagine.

Through God's reconciling work in Jesus, God makes possible our friendship with Him and with one another. Through friendship, we participate in the radical hospitality that God offers the world in Christ. One of the distinguishing marks of a Christ centered friendship is the disarming openness that is not ruled by fear. A spiritual friendship exposes our attempts to control our lives as we enter into life-giving relationships with others. Through our openness to God and one another, God can free us from a life of fear and isolation and embraces us as His friends. We in turn, can offer a pouring out of the eternal into one another.

Nancy & I could not have known HOW the Lord would answer each of our prayers to find a friend that lived in Wheaton with whom we could really practice the "one anothers." God never runs out of surprises for His children, even though we sometimes have to ask, pray and wait for His answers for an indefinite period of time. The length of the wait in our prayer life often correlates with the depth of the satisfaction we enjoy when God supplies the answer to our prayers. Nancy & I met because our children, Drew & Emily, began dating in December of 2007. She invited me for a cup of coffee at Caribou after church one Sunday in March of 2008, and thus began a friendship that would grow as only God could have seen fit. Even though our children continued to date, they were not the basis of what drew us together......it was our shared love for Christ and a desire to discover whether or not "true community" was possible at a deeper level than either of us had presently been experiencing. I would be remiss to mention that our children eventually married on April 9th, 2011, and the bond that we already shared in Christ, has only deepened, as you might expect, at the human level. How fun to have best friends kids marry one another. I cannot even begin to describe the joy that is ours!!! Jesus has been so good to us.

The One Another's

The Christian life is all about relationships. It’s God’s design for our personal growth, which then translates into growth in the Body of Christ.—the real kind. Loving one another is a powerful evangelistic tool that God's Word tells us is one way that a lost world will know of the love of our Savior. It is our desire to share what we have been learning in the practice of the one anothers. We have a long way to go, but by God's grace, we are developing our spiritual muscles in the practice of these commands. Come Holy Spirit, Come.

Build up one another Romans 14:19
Be Kind to one another Eph. 4:32
Be at peace with one another Mark 9:50
Admonish one another Romans 15:14
Bear one another’s burdens Galatians 6:2
Comfort one another 1 Thess. 4:18
Forgive each other Eph 4:32
Confess your sins to one another James 5:16
Show hospitality to one another 1 Peter 4:9
Give preference to one another Romans 12:10
Speak to one another in psalms and hymns Eph. 5:19
Encourage one another 1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 3:13
Pray for one another James 5:16
Have fellowship with one another 1 John 1:7
Spur one another on to love & good deeds Heb. 10:24
Do not slander one another James 4:11
Do not grumble against one another James 5:9
Live in harmony with one another 1 Peter 3:8
Lay down your life for one another 1 John 3:16-18
Restore one another Gal. 6:1-3
Bear with one another Col. 3:12-14
Do not lie to one another Col. 3:9
Disciple and teach one another 2 Cor. 2:2
Please one another Rom. 15:2
Accept one another Rom. 15:7
Suffer with one another 1 Cor. 12:26
Rejoice with one another Rom. 12:15
Honor one another Rom. 12:10