Romans 15:7

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

“The way we treat people is the way we treat God. Our relationship with others includes our attitudes, our code of conduct, and the time we give in service to God.”
~Hubert H. Humphrey
LIFE IS A PORTRAIT COMPOSED OF BRUSH STROKES FROM THE MANY PEOPLE WE PASS:
Proverbs 27:17
” As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Relationship Builders:
1. Supportive
2. Confidante
3. Consoler
4. Championship
5. Encouragement
“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones” (Proverbs 15:30).

RELATIONSHIP SEEDS CAN BLOSSOM INTO HIGH-IMPACT RELATIONSHIPS: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
” Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

1. Lifetime relationships.
2. Short-term relationships.
3. Networking relationships.
4. Crisis relationships.
5. Periodic relationships.

” . . .that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Romans 1:12).

CONNECTING WITH GOD IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD CONNECTING WITH OTHERS:
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

1. We need God’s people for comfort . Genesis 37:35
“All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. >No,= he said, >in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.= So his father wept for him.”

2. We need God’s people for counsel . 2 Timothy 2:15
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

3. We need God’s people for discipline . 2 Cor. 7:6

4. We need God’s grace to rightly relate with His people. Romans 12:10
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
I John 4:19-21