I’ve heard a couple people reference the “one another” passages in the Bible. You’ve heard a few of them:
- Bear one another’s burdens.
- Encourage one another.
- Everybody get together; try to love one another right now. (Wait . . . that might be something else.)
But I figured it’d be good for us to have all those “one another” commands in one place, ergo, this infographic!
I have the whole list in text form below, and you can download this for free. (I used Logos Bible Software to put together this list, in case you’re curious.)
Here’s all that info in copy-pastable form:
“One another” is two words in English, but it’s only one word in Greek: ἀλλήλων (ah-LAY-loan). It’s used 100 times in 94 New Testament verses. 47 of those verses give instructions to the church, and 60% of those instructions come from Paul.
Kissy-kissy? Yes! Four of the “one another” commands are about kissing. But with all due apologies to David Crowder and John Mark McMillan, these kisses are neither “sloppy, wet” nor “unforeseen.”
When you look at these verses, a few more common themes show up.
Unity. One third of the one-another commands deal with the unity of the church.
- Be at peace with one another (Mk 9:50)
- Don’t grumble among one another (Jn 6:43)
- Be of the same mind with one another (Ro 12:16, 15:5)
- Accept one another (Ro 15:7)
- Wait for one another before beginning the Eucharist (1 Co 11:33)
- Don’t bite, devour, and consume one another—seriously, guys, don’t eat each other (Ga 5:15)
- Don’t boastfully challenge or envy one another (Ga 5:26).
- Gently, patiently tolerate one another (Ep 4:2)
- Be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving to one another (Ep 4:32)
- Bear with and forgive one another (Co 3:13)
- Seek good for one another, and don’t repay evil for evil (1 Th 5:15)
- Don’t complain against one another (Jas 4:11, 5:9)
- Confess sins to one another (Jas 5:16)
Love. One third of them instruct Christians to love one another.
- Love one another (Jn 13:34, 15:12, 17; Ro 13:8; 1 Th 3:12, 4:9; 1 Pe 1:22; 1 Jn 3:11, 4:7, 11; 2 Jn 5)
- Through love, serve one another (Ga 5:13)
- Tolerate one another in love (Ep 4:2)
- Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Pe 5:14)
- Be devoted to one another in love (Ro 12:10)
Humility. About 15% stress an attitude of humility and deference among believers.
- Give preference to one another in honor (Ro 12:10)
- Regard one another as more important than yourselves (Php 2:3)
- Serve one another (Ga 5:13)
- Wash one another’s feet (Jn 13:14)
- Don’t be haughty: be of the same mind (Ro 12:16)
- Be subject to one another (Ep 5:21)
- Clothe yourselves in humility toward one another (1 Pe 5:5)
Here’s the rest:
- Do not judge one another, and don’t put a stumbling block in a brother’s way (Ro 14:13)
- Greet one another with a kiss (Ro 16:16; 1 Co 16:20; 2 Co 13:12)
- Husbands and wives: don’t deprive one another of physical intimacy (1 Co 7:5)
- Bear one another’s burdens (Ga 6:2)
- Speak truth to one another (Ep 4:25)
- Don’t lie to one another (Co 3:9)
- Comfort one another concerning the resurrection (1 Th 4:18)
- Encourage and build up one another (1 Th 5:11)
- Stimulate one another to love and good deeds (He 10:24)
- Pray for one another (Jas 5:16)
- Be hospitable to one another (1 Pe 4:9)
Of course, Jesus and the apostles give many more instructions to the church; these “one another” passages are a good start, though.
Also: make sure you read these in context! These commands come from Jesus, Peter, John, Paul, and James, and they’re scattered across the New Testament. Don’t just stop at this list: dig into these passages to see what the author was talking about.
One more note on the kissing: check out the cultural settings of these verses before planting one on your pastor’s cheek next weekend.
I love what you did here. Digging your site. I’m doing some research on “one another” and ran across your website. Great work. Much appreciated.
Wonderful material … I like many others would like to use some of this material in a church that we are working with right now. Would you give permission for me to do so?
Of course—I’m glad it’s helpful!
Thank You :) It is very helpful to me as I prepare a lesson of One Another for our Youth outdoor activity this week. God Bless you Bro.
I love how you broke down everything on this page. This is very helpful to me this week.
Great work, thanks for posting this! I will be sharing it.
I stumbled on this in preparation for my first sermon. God is good! People laughed when I said my topic would be “one-anothering”….I see that I’m not the only one interested in this topic:)
” It’s used in 100 times in 94 New Testament verses.” Drop the “in” before 100. Good work, thank you. Very helpful. May God bless your work.
Great catch, Jimmy. Thank you!
Jeffrey,
I lead a small group and am looking for a study on the “one another” verses in the bible. Do you offer or know of any such bible study?
Thanks,
Anthony Chavez
Not yet—maybe someday!
Thanks for posting. I am actually doing a teaching on “one another” over the next few weeks and was doing some research on line. That’s how I ended up here. I have Logos bible Study Software and did the same search. Well, I guess this blog was my confirmation for the teaching I’m about to do!!!
I like the info graphics you created. I’m going to create something like this for my presentation. Keep up the good work.
Pastor Mike – New Birth Church of Louisville
Great infographic, however, one of your text references is incorrect, in the section on Unity the text says Romand chapter 12 verse 6 but it should be verse 16
Hey Jim! Great breakdown. Will you be making an app for easy access here? Checked and didn’t find one.
Thanks, Pete—probably no apps for a while. Maybe someday!
Awesome work!
Thanks, Matt!
I am a student at a local bible college and in my pastoral care class we’ve been given the assignment to identify all the “one another” commands listed in the New Testament , articulating how would/could you apply them in providing pastoral care of your flock? Your article in reference to the commands was extremely inciteful and informative particularly how you listed each command categorically. May I have your permission to translate it and print it for use in my school assignment? I will by all means give you all credit for portions cited. Thank you for sharing this information!!!
Go for it. Enjoy!
thank you. I will use some of it for my bible study tonight (via iPad)
Blessings,
This is really helpful, Jeffrey. Could I please have your permission to use the copy and pastable text in some church membership materials that I’m preparing?
Go for it. Thanks!
Thank you — much appreciated!
Thanks for this resource. We’ll be leading our congregation through this on an upcoming Sunday.
This is great – thank you for the work that you put into this. I see permission granted to some to use it … if properly credited is this still an option for people? It is very well presented. I’m preaching one of these passages soon and this would very much help to frame things up.
Go for it, Stephen! And thanks for the kind words. =)
Praise the lord i have an question please help me to find the answers 1.A 5 letter name comes repeatedly 58 times in one book of bible??? 2.A 4 letter name comes repeatedly 67 times in one book of bible??? Please reply me
Hello
Thank you for this well done and helpful insight to the “One Another” Subject, I’m a Campus Pastor in Zacatecas, Mexico and we are actually starting a series called “One Another” So this is really helpful. Would you give us permission to translate it and print it so we can give it for free to our church attendants to this series? We would of course sign it with your name and website. Thank You
Hi, Joel: sorry I missed this. Go for it. I hope it’s beneficial to your ministry. =)
This is creative and well organized! I see that you’ve given printing permission to some others below; just wanted to check if that’s still okay. I’d like to distribute to some church discussion groups and other members. Of course, your name and website will be included to give credit where it’s due. Thanks!
Thanks Meg: go for it!
Hey ! I appreciate the details . Does someone know if my company could access a blank UK MAT B1 document to type on ?
Hi this is a really cool graphic but is there any chance you could make it smaller? Perhaps cut it at the love section and then have the two stips side by side. I only say that because printing it off makes it come out really small even and hard to read.
We are going to be doing a youth retreat on the one another’s in the Bible and this is really great stuff to get us going. I am so thankful for the gifts that God has given to you two and may you continue to use your gifts for His glory!
This is a good one. I recently came across another infographic on the same topic @ http://www.challies.com/resources/visual-theology-one-another
Nice graphic Jeffrey. Like Tim, If it is ever put in PowerPoint format I too would like permission to use it.
I would love to use this in a powerpoint message. How would I go about getting this in power point form mat or copy it in order to put it on power point?
I don’t currently have this in PowerPoint, but that sounds like a good idea.
I’m in the middle of a move right now, so the soonest I can get around to a project like this will be next month. If you need it sooner, you’re welcome to adapt the content if you’d like! All I ask is that you cite me and overviewbible.com. =)
Thanks Jeffrey, Please let m know if you get done in powerpoint. I think it could be very useful!
This is well done. I’m wondering if I could print out copies of the info graphic for anyone at church who would benefit from it. I’m preaching on 1 Peter 4:7-11, and of course one anothering is abundant there.
Go right ahead: share away. And thanks for the kind words!
Well done, Jeffrey. Thanks for the compilation, and for the lighthearted approach to this as well. I got a good chuckle out of it.
Hi
I find this info graphic great.
Would you mind if I do something inspired by this infographic, in french, for our web site?
I would write that it’s inspired by this web page and even place the link on our page.
Go for it, Lawrence—I look forward to seeing it.
Hi! Thanks for this, was needed! Is this available in Spanish?
Lisa
I haven’t done any Spanish translation work (yet). =)
Love this stuff. obrerofiel.com is an awesome site that millions of Spanish-speakers worldwide are using to get their Bible study material from. If you want, I can suggest your site and material for them to translate. It is a ministry of Camino Global, now merging with Avant – both founded in the 1890s by C.I. Scofield.
I really appreciate what you have done to make these passages easily accessible. I was asked last minute to put together a lesson for a Wednesday night Bible Study at church and this info graphic and text form of the “one another” passage list saved me tons of time and gave a great hand out for the class. Thank you for your hard work!
No problem, Chris! I’m very glad to help.
You’re very welcome. I look forward to following your site more closely – now that I know of it.
Great stuff, brother. But, isn’t Colossians 3:16 missing “teaching and admonishing one another”?
Good catch, Pete. I let that one slip through the cracks because the underlying Greek word is different. But I think you’re right: I’ve added it to the infographic.
Thanks for reading. It’s really encouraging to get this kind of feedback!
Fantastic stuff.
For some reason the embed code didn’t work on this one – shared the Bible one though.
Thanks, Cristi!
The embed code should be ready for action now.
How ironic that “be at peace with one another” comes immediately after a dig at worship leaders for the lyrics of a popular worship song. Sad.
No discord intended, Brian. I shoot for playful—not mean.
Thanks for reading!
I don’t think it was intended to be a dig. The tone seemed clearly playful and ironic.
Don’t be offended brother. I think you’re putting the worst possible interpretation on it. He was being lighthearted. Grace and peace!
Some of this was said by Christ AND not lighthearted!
Tough crowd.