Connect by Being Considerate - June 28, 2013

**James** Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:34 am

Philippians 2:4
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Proverbs 17:9
Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

If you want to connect with people, you've got to start with their needs, not your own. That's how you make the initial connection. There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "Seek to understand before seeking to be understood."

The Bible talks about this in Philippians 2:4: "Look out for one another's interests not just your own." That is such a counter-cultural verse. Everything in our culture -- from the moment we're born - tends to train us to think "me first.' As a result, we're all disconnected because we're all thinking about ourselves and not thinking about the needs of other people.

The truth is, God wants you to learn to be unselfish. He wants you to learn to love, to be generous like Him. Colossians 3:13 says, "You must make allowances for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember God forgave you so you must forgive others" (NLT). Part of being considerate of other people's needs is making allowances for their faults.

Proverbs 17:9 says, "Love forgets mistakes." It's not that you are blind to someone else's faults; rather, you choose to overlook them.