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Don’t Judge Another’s Motives
Who are you to judge another’s servant? — Romans 14:4 (NKJV) — To obey God, we must not only follow our own consciences but also love and respect those whose convictions differ from our own. In the gray areas of the Christian life, we should focus on obeying what Christ commands us to do, not on what He may be commanding others to do. We will...
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All Things in Common
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. — Acts 4:32 (NKJV) — In the early church there was a pattern of voluntary generosity among the disciples of Jesus Christ brought about by the Holy Spirit out of love...
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Be Joined to Some Visible Church
From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. — Ephesians 4:16 (NKJV) — You by yourselves are not the church, and you must not keep on saying “we” if you are not doing anything in connection...
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Forgiven People Forgive
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. — Ephesians 4:32 NKJV — The key to forgiveness is found in the phrase “even as God in Christ forgave you”. We receive forgiveness from God because Jesus Christ bore the punishment for sin in our place. We go free because Jesus paid the cost. This goes to the...
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The Unity of True Worship
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” — Revelation 5:9 (NKJV) — When we appear before God in glory, we will sing a new song in perfect harmony without disruption. There will be no...
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Armed with the Same Mind
Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. — 1 Peter 4:1–2 (NLV) — An army of ants can accomplish great things...
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The Art of Taking Responsibility
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? — Matthew 7:3, NKJV — When conflict enters our relationships, we can be tempted to blame everyone and everything else. The sins of others seem perfectly clear to us—the tone of their voices, the errors in their logic, their selfishness and faulty memory—and their offenses...
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The Master Plan of Reconciliation
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. — 2 Corinthians 5:19 — The work of reconciliation is not a small, peripheral aspect of God’s plan of salvation. Reconciliation is central to it. From the moment sin entered the world, God was carrying out His plan to atone for our...