“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another … By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples.” — John 13:34–35
A practical class, and one the group talked through rather than sat through. The subject was getting along with people — which sounds like a small thing until you try it with someone who has genuinely wronged you.
Love one another
The class worked out what that looks like when you disagree with someone: show up for them anyway, watch your words, listen to what they are actually saying instead of assembling your reply while they talk.
Be kind and forgiving
Ephesians 4:31–32 — put away bitterness and wrath, be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. The point that carried the discussion: forgiveness is mostly for the person doing the forgiving. It is what gets you out from under the bitterness. And the hardest case is not when you were wrong — it is forgiving someone while you are still right.
Pride was named as the thing that blocks it. Pride tells you that you are right, and being right feels better than being reconciled.
Live in peace
You cannot control how anyone else behaves. You can control whether you take the bait. The class talked about handling disagreement in a godly way — pray first, be patient, keep the conversation calm, stay respectful, and be slow to speak and quick to listen.
It closed in Colossians 3:12–14: put on kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering — and above all these, charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Applied at home first. Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, neighbors.
The last word was that this is not merely good manners. It is the thing the world reads when it wants to know whether any of this is real.
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 · John 13:34–35, Ephesians 4:31–32, Romans 12:18, Colossians 3:12–14