Others — Our Fellow Humans and the Call to Relationship

We are made for relationship — to give and receive, to encourage and be encouraged, and to reflect God's love through how we treat one another. Our lives are shaped not in isolation but in the company of others, and it is through these connections that we discover both who we are and who we are called to be.

We Grow Through Relationships

Allow other people into your life — you need them and they need you. We grow in social skills by interacting with others. God made us to be interdependent, not independent. We cannot discover ourselves by ourselves; we need interaction with others to encourage, nurture, challenge, hold us accountable and believe in us, as we in turn lovingly reciprocate — either to them or someone else.

Do our words build others up or tear them down? (Eph 4:29). Are others blessed by us — benefiting by our relationship, gaining renewed hope, and believing in what they can become? This helps empower them to be what God has called them to be. We should treat each other as important, with each relationship having a significant potential in the purposes of God (Mt 25:34-45). We are to only worship God, yet we serve God by serving others.

We grow through relationships

Love in Action — The Golden Rule

Being outward-focused is the cure for selfishness and depression. "Look not only to your own interests but also to what others are doing" (Phil 2:4). The Bible's message is "Do to others what you would they do to you" (Lk 6:31). Often referred to as the Golden Rule, this is the outworking of the second command as Jesus stated it, "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Mk 12:31). Love is a practical caring and acting uprightly, responding to the real needs of another (Lk 10:30-37; Jas 2:15-16).

Follow the example of Jesus who entered into our predicament and died in our place, "the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God" (1 Pet 3:18). Practical compassion is the over-riding characteristic and motivation of this care that encompasses areas such as forgiveness (Mt 6:14-15; Col 3:13), honouring others (Rom 12:10), loving each other deeply (Jn 13:34-35; Col 3:14), patiently accommodating their annoying quirks (Eph 4:2), offering encouragement (1 Thes 5:11), and praying for others (Jas 5:16).

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle

Enriching Others Enriches Ourselves

It was when Job, who was impoverished by the calamities that were allowed to touch him, reached out to those around him that "the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as before... And he also had seven sons and three daughters" (Job 42:10,13). As we build others up we too will become better, more complete people; conversely if we don't enrich others we will impoverish ourselves (Prov 11:24-25).

We have the opportunity to be perfected by the challenges of life and imperfections of others if we respond in a godly manner (Gal 5:22-23). How do I view and respond to these potentially beneficial character forming events that come courtesy of our fellow humans (Rom 5:3-5; 1 Pet 1:6-7)? Do I actively endeavour to have significant input into others or am I selfishly motivated?

Building others up builds us up too

Reflection and Application:

Do my words build others up or tear them down? (Eph 4:29)
Am I outward-focused, looking to the interests of others as well as my own? (Phil 2:4)
Do I actively endeavour to have significant input into others, or am I selfishly motivated?
How do I respond to the character-forming challenges that come through interacting with others? (Rom 5:3-5)