The marriage covenant was designed to bring incomplete components of the God image together in one flesh, from which other relationships developed.

The Scriptures provide many examples of how difficult relationships were dealt with by humility, deference, longsuffering, and prayer.

Learning to judge is one of the most important qualities of a leader. Consequently, Christ warned that intemperance in judging will act as a boomerang.

Our relationship with God is the key to unity with the brethren. When we are all just like Christ, we will also all resemble each other—and there will be unity.

As members of God's family, we must be quick to forgive one another for real or imagined slights. Those in God's Kingdom, will all be working together.

A root cause of the Corinthians' problems (and perhaps ours) was a massive failure in evaluating the worth of other members of the spiritual Body of Christ.

Simply watching out for the so-called "big sins" suggests that we are not genuinely interested in conforming to God—just in not crossing a major red line.

True Proverbs 18 friends are those who stick with us in this life and will wait for us as we finish our spiritual race.

Even though offense is inevitable, we must emulate Christ's love by avoiding unnecessary harm while prioritizing the spiritual growth of others.

Forgiving, even when there is no apology, reflects the Father and Jesus Christ. The prodigal son is a story of the deep love we should have towards each other.

Our hurtful words can create scars that last longer than any physical scar that sticks and stones may cause. Christians must harness the power of the tongue.

Many of us are pack-rats, saving everything for years until we have collected a mass of—well, junk. This is like accumulated sin—and it is time to get rid of it!

In John 13, when our Savior washed His disciples' feet, He taught them that He was willing to accept the task designated to the lowest of the servants.

In Paul's listings of virtues, meekness always appears near the end, reflecting its difficulty. Meekness is the gentle, quiet spirit of selfless devotion.

God does not want us to find a cozy comfort zone because that is when we are most likely to slip into dangerous spiritual drowsiness and complacency.

We all change repeatedly throughout the stages of life, as do others, requiring constant adjustment as to how we evaluate and treat others.

The Israelites witnessed many miracles, but their attention was short-lived as they prevailed upon Aaron to make a golden calf. They never really left Egypt.

Reaping good fruit does not happen immediately. If we feel we are not reaping, we must consider that we might be reaping some negative things we have sown.

Cain represents religion and worship on a person's own terms, according to his own priorities, rather than according to God's instruction.

Here is how we should cultivate and appreciate our friendships, for they are a necessary tool in growing in godliness.

The hallmark of Christian character is humility, which comes about only when one sees himself in comparison to God. Pride makes distorted comparisons.

Jesus puts a condition on our friendship: We are His friends if we do what He commands, unlike the assumption that belief on His name is the only requirement.

James provides some of the best advice on communication and control of the tongue. The correct order of communication is listening, waiting, and then responding.

No one has felt more rejection than Jesus Christ. He was rejected by those of His hometown, and His own physical brothers rejected Him because they did not believe.

It is bad enough when we dwell on our own character flaws, but we greatly compound this habit when we dwell on other people's past sins and offenses.

If God's people do not believe they are lovable, they may deprive others of a blessing by refusing to accept charitable help from a spiritual sibling.

It is easy to denigrate a matter as not being 'salvational,' but the real question to ask is, How will this action affect my relationship with God?

Resentment unresolved can make us physically and spiritually sick. It raises havoc with our nervous system as well as jeopardizes our salvation.

He who loves God must love his brother, including every fellow human being. Our closeness with God transcends the other human relationships.

Reconciliation is the product of a sacrifice to pacify the wrath of an offended person. We must imitate Christ in His approach toward hostility from others.

Agape love will not occur unless we first learn to honor, esteem, and cherish God and the preciousness of Christ's sacrifice for us.

An irrational fear of loss prevents the development of agape love — we fear that keeping God's commandments will cause us to lose something valuable.

How can a group of rag-tag upstarts with no experience—that's how the world's leaders perceive us—hope to succeed where they have utterly failed?

Self-will must be extirpated from our children; God's will must take its place. Childrearing must begin at the start of a child's formative life.

Each member of Christ's body must choose to function in the role God has ordained to produce unity, emulating Christ in striving to please the Father

God calls us 'living stones' in I Peter 2. Here is why this description is a very fitting view of God's work making us His jewels.

Romans 12-16 provide a checklist for overcoming and promoting positive relationships, developing tender affection. We are mutually dependent upon one another.

Following our too frequent mess-ups in life, forgiveness is so refreshing! We must forgive others if we are to be forgiven.

Murder originates in the heart. Nothing from the outside defiles a man but originates in the heart governed by carnal human nature.

When people are not in a right relationship with God, peace is impossible. Sin (the breaking of the law or covenant) automatically breaks the peace.

Submitting is repugnant to the carnal mind. The church is no place for uncompromising people who demand their own way.

Christians who 'sit out' opportunities to serve, becoming in effect couch potatoes, commit sins of omission which may lead to the Lake of Fire.

The intent of fasting is to deflate our pride—the major taproot of sin—the biggest deterrent to a positive relationship with God. Humility heals the breach.

Our forgiveness from God is conditional, depending upon our forgiving others. It is an opportunity for us to extend grace, sacrificing as Christ did for us.

Pride elevates one above God, denigrating any dependence upon God, replacing it with self-idolatry. We ought to boast or glory in the Lord instead of ourselves.

Christ's letter to the Ephesians focuses on a people who succeeded in fighting heresy and apostates but, in the process, had left their first love.

As Christians, we need to form warm, productive, quality relationships with our brethren, actively ministering to the needs of one another.

Pride is a perverted comparison that elevates one above another. Because of its arrogant self-sufficiency, it hinders our faith. Faith depends on humility.