Read Matthew 5:43-48.
Without naming names, would you say you have enemies? What makes an enemy to you?

In what ways can obeying Jesus’ command to love our enemies affect them? In what ways can it change our hearts?

How does the realization that you can be disagreeable help you to love others who are as well?

What’s the first thing you can do to mend a broken relationship? Who’s the first person
you should call? What’s keeping you from making that call today?

What could it look like to love your enemies in a tangible way this week?

How is obeying to become a child of God different from obeying because you’re a
child of God? How can you identify which is driving your obedience?

Why do you think we are sometimes more willing to cross an ocean to tell others about Jesus than our own street?

What can make it difficult to love our neighbors?  To talk to them about Jesus?  What could it look like to overcome that struggle?

What kinds of questions create deeper conversations with others?

What difference has it made in your life to remember that, even at your worst, Jesus loves you?

What can you begin doing today to build loving relationships with your neighbors?

What do you think it looks like to love God “with all your heart, soul and mind”?  How can our love for our neighbors reveal our ultimate love of God?

What would you say it means to love someone as you love yourself? In what ways do we love ourselves? How do you distinguish between loving yourself and selfishness?

Have you ever been the recipient of careless or unkind words? What was that experience like?

Read Luke 6:43-45.
In what ways do our words provide a glimpse into what’s in our hearts? When you consider the words you use, what story do they say about your heart?

What does it look like to give others the benefit of the doubt in conversations? How might your relationships change if you resolved to respond to unkind words graciously?

What can you do to respond with love and kindness when you are misunderstood?

Do you find it difficult to exercise restraint during a conversation? Why or why not? What can we do to slow down and think before we speak?

What could change if you sought to speak affirming words to everyone you
meet?

Who are the people in your life that need to hear kind words from you?
What could you say to them that would encourage and affirm them?

Bob Goff shared a story of a failed sailing navigation and how easy it is to veer slightly from what we know is best. Have you ever gotten a couple of degrees off? Where did that path lead?

What does it feel like to be you right now?

What setbacks have you experienced in life? In what ways have you struggled in your faith?

Read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
To what degree do you attempt to hide your weaknesses from others? What could change about your life and relationships if you were open about your struggles?

How can you make being “the most authentic, humblest version” of yourself the
goal of every interaction you have?

How could you use your own weaknesses as a touch point for ministry to other people?

What’s one thing you could begin doing today, by the power of Jesus, to
exercise patience with yourself and others?

To what degree have you sensed cultural conflicts affect your life?

In what ways do you respond to the chaos you see in the culture? What do you think it means to confront chaos with obedience? What opportunities do you have right now to be obedient in chaotic situations?

What does it look like to love others with kindness and respect? How does it affect the people who receive it?

What can you do to grow more familiar with Jesus’ commands to us in the Bible? In what ways can you grow in obedience to his commands?

What would change if you truly believed that nothing you can do could make God love you any more or any less?

What does it look like for us to make love a priority in everything we do?