Experience One Another through God’s Love

We experience one another through God’s love when we realize that we are all under God’s authority. When we submit to one another, accept one another, and give preference to one another, we are evidencing God’s love that is working through each of His children.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Galatians 2:20 NLT

Submit to one another

Experiencing God’s good pleasure within His redemptive process requires vulnerability to those He uses as tools in our lives. While we resist assistance, intimacy necessitates submission to one another. Submitting in a manner that is good in God’s sight is foreign to our sinful nature. Holy Spirit enabling is required for personal empowerment. To submit to another is to voluntarily give in with cooperation while assuming responsibility for carrying a burden. This comes about as we live out the fruit of God’s love that expects nothing in return.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

Ephesians 5:21 NIV

Accept One Another

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 

Romans 15:7 NIV

Praise flows from experiencing relationships because Christ’s work within is perfected by sharing. When we grant access to our heart, we benefit our spouse by receiving them with welcome arms wide open. I can more readily accept you when I accept God’s perspective of you.

Give Preference to One Another

When we give preference to one another, we eagerly take delight in leading to show honor and display esteem. While Christ is directing the One Anothers to the church body, as a picture of Christ and His relationship with the church, a marital relationship displays an intensely concentrated version of the One Anothers. Because proximity creates demands and taxation, how much more should our marriage evidence the blessings designed within marriage.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. 

Romans 12:10 NASB

What is enjoyed in communion with Christ is expressed in union with others. When our established identity leads us to embrace intimacy, we encourage our spouse to encounter a relevant relationship in triunity. Together we experience God’s good pleasure while painting a portrait of Christ and His relationship with His Bride.

Insight Journal

How are you doing with each of these expectations?

• Submit to one another
  • Meets expectations
  • Exceeds expectations
  • Improvement needed
  
  
• Accept one another
  • Meets expectations
  • Exceeds expectations
  • Improvement needed
  
  
• Give preference to one another
  • Meets expectations
  • Exceeds expectations
  • Improvement needed

Other posts in the One Another series:

• How to Love One Another in Marriage
• Enlighten One Another about God’s Truth
• Enrich One Another with God’s Truth
• Encourage One Another with God’s Truth
• Encounter One Another with God’s Love
• Enable One Another to Find God’s Will
• Empower One Another with God’s Truth
• Engage One Another with Hospitality

Excerpts from Marriages that Minister by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis. Available from your favorite book retailers, including Amazon and Redemption Press. (As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

Would you like a more in-depth study of Marriages that Minister? Enroll now in our Teachable Marriages that Minister class.

Read more about Marriages that Minister: A Portrait of Christ and His Bride.

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