COMMON UNITY --- "Bearing with One Another" [[[ Topical Bible Study ]]]

Common Unity – Small Group Discussion Guide
"Bearing With One Another!"

[[[ Guarding Against Being Offended and Resolving Conflict ]]]

Have a different member of the group read one of these passages to the group aloud and then discuss it. Use these questions as a guide to dig deeper, to unearth all the truth God has for us in His word.

o Ephesians 4:1-6 "1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

--- Why does the Apostle Paul put so much emphasis on our ONE-ness and God’s ALL-ness?
--- What impact did he want it to have?
--- What impact does it have on you?

o James 1:19 ESV 19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

--- What do you find brilliant about the order of James’ instructions? “… quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger …?”
--- How does that help us preserve Unity?
--- How does it help us “Bear with one another?”

o Proverbs 19:11 ESV 11Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
o Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 ESV 21Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others."

--- These verses are from a part of the Bible we call “Wisdom Literature.”
--- What practical wisdom can you pull out of these verse?
--- How can you put that wisdom into practice this week?

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