Devotion to One Another (It’s Not All About You – chapter 4 p.45-54)
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; (Romans 12:10 NASB)
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:10 NLT)
If we are going to participate in the joy of one anothering, we need to let Jesus rewire our thinking so that we are even more aware of others than we are of ourselves. (p. 46)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NLT)
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NLT)
This statement in the Gospel of Mark is the conclusion of a lesson Jesus taught the disciples about being more aware of others than we are of ourselves. Look at the context of this lesson.
They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. 34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36 “What is your request?” he asked.
37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
What did Jesus do to help them rewire?
But . . . what happens when we try to put everyone else’s needs before our own?
As always one anothering is divinely created out of our love and trust in God. Jesus never did anything in his own power. He always acted on the will of his Father. The Holy Spirit knows nothing about burnout.
Expectations are relationship killers!
Jesus didn’t lace his relationships with expectations, and he refused to be trapped when others sought to put their expectations on him. (p. 50)
When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32 NLT)
The popular saying is true: “Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” We sabotage many of our relationships by imposing expectations on others or trying to meet theirs. It cannot be done. (p. 50)
When we substitute something like commitment for affection, we mistake the shadow for reality. As we experience God’s affection for us, we will find ourselves having affection in our heart for others.
Wrap Up: Remember, one anothering is about devoting ourselves to those God chooses. Out of those relationships we will be blessed with a small group of believers with whom we walk together on this journey of one anothering. Look around and praise God! Saving the planet is His job.
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