How The Holy Spirit Helps You Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

How the Holy Spirit Helps You Love Your Neighbor as Yourself - Phil. 2:1-7

1. The Holy Spirit helps you love your neighbor as yourself by giving you greater understanding into their needs and concerns. Paul wrote, "In humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Phil. 2:3,4) Paul studied the emotional, social, psychological, cultural, physical, and spiritual needs of people. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom, understanding and awareness of the needs of those you normally relate to and minister with.

Illustration: Ingham and Luft first present the Johari Window to illustrate how relationships can be improved with greater awareness of individual and group strengths and weaknesses.

It is used a tool to help people discover areas where relationships could be improved. It is simple to visualize the four quadrants:

Quadrant 1 - The area of free activity or public area, that refers to behavior and motivation known to ones self as well as to others

Quadrant 2 - The blind area, where others can see things in ourselves of which we are unaware

Quadrant 3 - The avoided or hidden areas, represents things we know but do not reveal to others (e.g. a hidden agenda, or matters about which we have sensitive feelings)This is the area that is known to us privately but not known to others

Quadrant 4 - Areas of unknown activity to both ourselves as well as to those around us. Neither the individual nor others are aware of certain behaviors or motives. Yet, we can assume their existence because eventually some of these behaviors and motives may have been influencing relationships all along. This is where the Holy Spirit of God most powerfully convicts, inspires and works in and through us to accomplish His will.

a. Allow the Spirit of God to use others to bring to the light areas that need improving

b. Allow the Spirit of God to expose and convict you of hidden areas that need to be dealt with and improved upon

c. Allow the Spirit of God to use you to teach others how they may become more like Christ

d. Allow the Spirit of God to teach you and others more about your responsibilities to fear God and keep His commandments so you can expand quadrant #1 while reducing the size and influence of the other quadrants in your life. This is a life long process.

e. Allow the Spirit of God to help you appreciate how He gradually reveals areas of weakness in the hidden areas of your life to help you become more like Jesus in your relationships.

f. Allow the Spirit of God to help you realize that even though a centipede may think it is happy without awareness, yet he may be subject to all kinds of attacks. In the mean time all a centipede is able to do is crawl under rocks for protection and progress

g. Allow the Spirit of God to help you become more sensitized to areas that are covert in quadrants 2,3,4 so you can be more loving and caring and patient with others.

h. Allow the Spirit of God to bring the changes in people at his own pace instead of trying to play the role of the Holy Spirit in judging others.

i. Allow the Spirit of God to bring people to a motivation level where they are ready to make the necessary changes.

j. Allow the Spirit of God to teach you that forced awareness often leads to undesirabel and ineffective results.

k. Allow the Spirit of God to show you that it is taking unnecessary energy to hide, deny or be blind to attitude and behavior that hinders positive communication and relationships with others.

l. Allow the Spirit of God to work through each individual and culture to gradual disclose the hidden areas instead of feeling you must do it for Him. There is a universal curiosity about the unknown areas of life, but this is held in check by customs of culture, social training and by diverse fears. It is best to help people develop a fear of the Lord more than the fear of men.

m. Allow the Spirit of God to help you show great sensitivity to people who need a certain level of covert behavior before they are willing to trust and open up in their communications. Ask the Lord to give you greater respect, sensitivty and patience with certain people who desire to keep certain areas of their life private.

n. Allow the Spirit of God to work through the social-cultural conditioning patterns of each group in the ways that are most effective.

o. Allow the Spirit of God to nurture great love and trust between people so they are voluntarily willing to give increase awareness in all four quadrants since threats and intimidations tend to decrease peoples’ willing to open up and be freely disclosive in their communications.