Be Devoted to One Another

ICEBREAKER
Which is/was more annoying for you: Accidentally make them cry every time you joke around or have them use the bathroom every time you plan to use it?

Would you rather constantly be told you look exactly like them or constantly told to be more like them?

Today we’re talking about “Being devoted to one another in brotherly love.” The reality is that “brotherly love” doesn’t always seem like a good thing. But the truth is as Christians, we are to love one another with deeply devoted, affectionate, brotherly and sisterly love.

FROM THE TRUTH
Read or review Romans 12:9-16. What do you know or recall about the Jews in Rome and their expulsion?
How do you think the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians (Romans and Greeks) were different from each other?

What do you know or recall about the meaning of the NIV phrase “be devoted to one another in love” in the original language?
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FROM THE TAKEAWAY
Pick a few of the 10 commands that follow and talk about how we can do so in our families, with our friends, in our communities, and on social media.     
 
v10 - Honor them above yourself
v11 - Stay spiritually passionate (by serving)
v12 - Be joyful in hope
v12 - Be patient in affliction
v12 - Be faithful in prayer
v13 - Share with them and be hospitable
v14 - Bless them and don’t curse them
v15 - Empathize with them (Rejoice when they rejoice or Mourn when they mourn)
​v16 - Live in harmony with them
v16 - Be humble toward them
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FINAL QUESTION
How does living this “one another” make us irresistible people?

PRAYER
First, take some time to ask people to identify prayer needs related to the discussion about encouraging one another. Second, take some time to ask for additional prayer requests. Then close your time together in prayer.