Dealing with others

The Bible has a lot to say about how we treat others. God knows that the human race has far to go in its treatment of each other.

Matthew 7:1 gives us a warning against human judgment, which seeks to put down and destroy.

How would you like it if… _______? You fill in the blank. No one likes to be treated in a manner that is demeaning, humiliating, or emotionally painful.

Think before you act. Before you fall into the trap of judging another person, reflect upon and remember these things.

We must keep in mind in our dealings with others, that at any given moment, there are always differences. There are high degrees of variance in life experience, in amounts of understanding, empathy and compassion.

We are all at our own stage in the process of spiritual growth. We all have our own levels of emotional maturity, awareness and patience. Some have deeper insights, wider patterns of thinking, greater integrity, purer motives and intentions. We all have intellectual pursuits, tastes and habits that are uniquely our own.

Yes, we are told, “Love your enemies”… but what about those you disagree with? How should we treat them? By applying God’s principles… that’s how.

Simply because we disagree with someone does not give us the right to lower our level of respect for them, or to have a lower opinion, or to hold them in a lesser degree of esteem. We must treat others as God treats us in Christ.

When God sees me, He sees Christ. God sees me and treats me as one who is right with Him because of the principle of justification. Justification means to be rendered just or innocent in the eyes of God.
Acts 13:39 tells us that by Christ, all who believe are justified.

Matthew 12:37 also tells us that it is by our words that we are either justified or we are condemned. If we heap condemnation on another person, we have not applied the principle of justification.

So, with this in mind, applying justification to others, even though we may disagree with them, means that we purposely choose to see them as God sees them. We, too, choose to see Christ.

We are no less faulty than the person we disagree with. Choosing this approach removes our emotions and finite, faulty reasoning from the equation. If we allow our emotions to dictate the situation, then we no longer feel the same way about them or toward them.

To further reinforce this idea, remind yourself of what the Bible says about how God sees you:

All because of Christ, God has forgiven you of all your sin (past, present and future). You have peace with God ( a peace, I might say, that the Enemy desperately wants to rob you of).

You have God’s promise of eternal love and favour toward you. God has poured out the riches of His blessings on you in Christ and He promises that He will never allow anything to snatch you out of His hand. You have been made right with God, have been reconciled to Him and have even been made His friend, all because of Christ.

Now, apply these truths to the person you disagree with.

If they are not Christian, you will extend mercy to them, and, as an ambassador of Christ, extend to them, not only the same love that God extends to you, but also an example of a true Christian.

If the person you disagree with is a Christian, repeat these Bible truths as often as necessary until they settle deep into your heart and mind.
Because it is more difficult for us to show love to those we disagree with, repeat these truths until you acknowledge and understand them well enough to be able to treat them the same way God does.

In doing so, you will be obedient to Ephesians 4:3, “diligently preserving the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us”.