How is a Christian supposed to treat others? With patience, kindness, and gentleness.

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How is a Christian supposed to treat other people? One of the main thrusts of Jesus’ message when he was here on earth was the teaching of avoidance of argument and strife; and of humility, patience, kindness, and gentleness in our dealings with other people. Consider the following passages from the epistles to the churches that speak of the importance of treating other people with patience, kindness and gentleness:

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Eph 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

II Tim 2: 24-25 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth.

Gal 6: 1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Gal 5: 22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Titus 3:1-2 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

1 Pet 3:1-4 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adorning be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel; rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

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As a background for this emphasis of the apostles on the importance of patience, kindness, and gentleness in dealing with others, consider the following words of Jesus:

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Luke 6:27-38 "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, {28} "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. {29} "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. {30} "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. {31} "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. {32} "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. {33} "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. {34} "And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. {35} "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. {36} "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. {37} "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. {38} "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete, it will be meted back to you."

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This teaching of Jesus was certainly radical. He taught a very different way of acting than the way most people do just naturally act. It is not natural to treat your enemy well and do good to him. He told us: “Act like God acts! God is kind to the unthankful and evil! Be like God!” That is certainly a very deep and profound thought. If we are really serious about following God and being obedient to him we need to consider the teachings of Jesus carefully. And the next time we encounter a situation where we are tempted to get angry or to “hit back” we need to remember what Jesus said. The moral standard that Jesus taught is certainly a far higher one than most people are accustomed to.

In many Christian denominations Christianity is all dry dogma, doctrine, complicated theology. True Christianity is about far more than just belief and doctrinal position. It is about practice. To not understand this is self-deception. Underneath the scripture cited above is the spirit of Christianity. And closely connected with the spirit of Christianity are the values, outlooks and attitudes of Christianity. Christianity is about strict honesty, integrity, and moral purity in dealing with our fellow man. It is also about a spirit of patience, kindness, and gentleness in dealing with him. He may be lost, bad, immoral, on the road to hell. We are still supposed to treat him in a kind way.

Christianity is about the right kinds of habits in dealing with other people. To really understand Christianity one must understand the spirit of Christianity. One must see through the teachings of Christianity and see the spirit of Christianity. The teachings represent a certain type spirit. Jesus passed not just a set of teachings but also the spirit of Christianity on to his disciples.

Christianity teaches that we should not judge our fellow man. Only God can do that. However, the Bible is not a permissive book. It is very judgmental in regard to conduct. It teaches that certain kinds of conduct are wrong and lead to hell. One must distinguish between not passing judgment on people and not passing judgment on conduct.

True Christianity presents a very high moral standard. That is because true Christianity is about thinking and acting in the way God himself thinks and acts. Jesus taught us that we should think and act as God thinks and acts. Christianity places great emphasis on integrity and moral purity in dealing with our fellow man. But it also places great emphasis on humility, peacefulness, patience, forbearance, kindness, and gentleness in dealing with him. The true Christian is supposed to be a radically different kind of person than the regular person. A radically better person.

Jesus taught us that those who follow him will be rejected, scorned and hated by the world. (That is because the world follows Satan and Satan hates God, Jesus Christ, and Christians.) The Christian needs to learn how to deal with a world that hates and rejects him. The Bible tells us how we are supposed to deal with our enemy: with patience and kindness.

Mar 2018