Walk in Love
Discussion Questions
Sermon Overview:
Relate to one another in the church according to God's sacrificial love for you.
1. General principle: Imitate God's sacrificial love in your every day relating to one another (5:1-2)
2. Specific application: When sinned against, imitate God's kindness and forgiveness (4:31-32)
Digging Deeper:
1. The main point of this passage was that we should relate to one another according to God’s sacrificial love for you. What other things tend to guide us as we relate to one another? Examples include treating people based on how they treat you, what their status is, what you can get from them, etc.
2. What problems emerge when we deal with people based on the answers in the first question? For example, what are the downsides of treating people based on how they treat you?
3. Why is treating people based on God’s sacrificial love a much better way to live?
4. f you were sinned against, what would imitating God’s kindness and forgiveness look like?
5. What are the greatest challenges you face to consistently love other people at CrossWay?
6. Look again at the list of items in verse 31 that should be put away. Do any of them resonate as something to be addressed in your life?
Bitterness
Wrath: an outburst of rage
Anger: steady festering of anger; lingering animosity
Clamor: quarreling, shouting back and forth
Slander: defaming or speaking poorly of others
Malice: a general ill-will towards others
7 If you are a follower of Jesus, how have you experienced being a loved son or daughter of God (5:1)?
For some inspiration, consider: God pursued us when we were still sinners, he graciously sent Jesus for rebels, he was kind to us when we were unkind to him, he first forgave us, he adopted us when we orphaned ourselves because of our sin, he promises us a future with him, not based on our performance but based on Jesus’.
8. How should the answers from question #7 help us pursue what God calls us in 4:32? In other words, how should the gospel help us be kind, tenderhearted, and forgive one another?
9. What problems are created if the gospel doesn’t motivate being kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another?
Prayer