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1. 10 Important Words in Christian Relationships
“With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven
you.” (Eph. 4:2, 3, 32).
This exhortation from the Apostle Paul is a plea for church members to exercise some
T.L.C. towards others. We all have our shortcomings and weaknesses. None of us are
perfect. I pray these 10 words will be manifest in all our dealings with one another:
1. “Lowliness”— Being humble. Not proud.
2. “Meekness”— Not easily provoked; Yielding rights.
3. “Longsuffering”— Patience.
4. “Forbearing”— Tolerance of another’s shortcomings and failures.
5. “Love”— Putting the other person ahead of yourself.
6. “Unity”— Sticking together.
7. “Peace”— Freedom from strife or agitation; calm.
8. “Kind” — Sympathetic, gracious, adverse to hurting.
9. “Tenderhearted”— Affectionate, pitying.
10. “Forgiving” — inclined to overlook offenses; mild; merciful.
These 10 words will make a difference in your church and in your family. How many of these
words are manifest in your relationships?
Declaration of Dependence
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our
God. —Psalms 20:7
238 years ago today the 13 American colonies signed “The Declaration of Independence”
and our country was born. It has been said that the thing American’s cherish the most is their
independence. Teenagers long for their independence. Senior citizens hope to maintain their
independence. There are churches that boast of being “independent churches.”
While all this talk of independence sounds appealing, it can also be a determinant in the
spiritual realm. The only Being who is truly “independent” is God. His name is “I
AM,” meaning He exists freely in and of Himself. He depends on no one. Every other
creature is dependent on God, whether they recognize it or not (Dt. 8:18; Job 35:7; Lam.
3:22; John 3:27; 1 Cor. 4:7; James 1:17). In and of myself, I am nothing (Isa. 40:17, 23; Dan.
4:35). Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
In fact, the essence of sin is acting independently of God (Isa. 53:6). A.W. Tozer explains
in his classic work, The Knowledge of the Holy— “Sin has many manifestations but its
essence is one. A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne
of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, "I AM." That is sin its
concentrated essence.”
King Asa was a man who recognized his utter dependence on the Lord when confronted
with an enemy army twice the size of as his army. He prayed, “Help us, O Lord our God, for
we REST on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude” (2 Chron. 14:11). For 25

2. years Judah enjoyed peace under Asa’s reign. But then Asa failed to depend wholly on the
Lord and began to depend on Syria for help. The prophet Hanani rebuked Asa, “Because
thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord the God… Herein thou hast
done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars” (2 Chron. 16:7, 9). In the
latter years of his reign, Asa still failed to depend on God. He “was diseased in his feet, until
his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the
physicians” (2 Chron. 16:12).
Such is the sad results of depending on the arm of flesh instead of relying on arm of the
Lord. Hear what the Bible says:
 Psalms 118:8—It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
 Proverbs 3:5—Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.
Far from being self-reliant, we are totally and eternally dependent on the Lord who died to
set us free. May we every day make our “declaration of DEPENDENCE!
She’s A Sinner!
“This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is
that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.” —Luke 7:39
Simon was quick to see the sin in this woman’s life. And, like Simon, I can usually spot
certain sins in people. How? Because they're the same sins I’m most familiar with in
myself.
We tend to see in others what we see in ourselves. For example, if you are one who is
cynical, if you are one who constantly finds fault with this person or that group, more than
likely you're the one with the same problem. The person with certain character traits is best at
recognizing those same traits in someone else.
I have observed over the years that preachers who constantly condemn certain sins in
others all too often end up falling into those same sins themselves.
The common cliche goes like this: “It takes one to know one.” No one is better at finding a
wrongdoer than another wrongdoer. Paul said it this way, “Thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judges another, thou condemnest thyself,
for thou that judgest doest the same things” (Rom. 2:1).
So be careful about how to point out the sins of others, because when you point your finger
at one, you have three fingers pointing back at yourself.
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~mis157/Kuliah/20021_IF1526_KBS/Irfan%20Subakti%20-%202006-07-
12%20Sistem%20Berbasis%20Pengetahuan.pdf