"Brethren must be loved as brethren, as one who belongs to Christ, stamped with the image of God and sealed with His Spirit. Self-love is great in every one of us, and therefore to love the brethren in sincerity is a very difficult thing. Most have their own ends in it, and make a marker of their religion. It is brotherly kindness when we love them out of a respect for their holiness or because of the image of God in them."
Thomas Manton
In 2 John 1 we are told to have love for the church (the elect lady) and her members (her children). In these verses, 2 John 5,6 it speaks of love of the church. This love, one member of the body to another, is a major characteristic of the church.
"Love is the heart of life. God's love is the heart of christian life."
Once again I was challenged to look at the motivations for doing good to one another. Guilt, pity, pride, fear etc are wrong motives, only serving self. Positive motives are gratitude to God for his goodness toward us, acknowledging our unworthiness of all his good gifts, esteeming the other as brethren. As we show our love for one another it should be seeking the glory of God and not to promote ourselves in any way.
Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to live together in unity!
Well, Ruby, it is Sunday night here.
ReplyDeleteI reflect also at how pleasant it is to dwell in unity and to give that cup of water in Christ's name--something small. Or something given annonomously. The joy of kindness with honoring our Lord.
After our worship service, we eat together before an afternoon class. Today my husband and I shared our lunch with a four year old at church. He was going home to eat, but we taught him by our willingness to share. Church is his home too. We all enjo each other. His mother smiled at us and we had thought that he had asked his mom if he could have a bite to eat, but he had not. Now he would be quite on the trip home.
Ah Ruby, it is good to be home to get your inspiring words once more, my sister in Christ!!
ReplyDeleteRuby, this is starred in my reader so I can return to it.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting and helpful that even 'pity' is listed as a self-serving motive, because it is not a motive that has reference primarily to God -- something I had asked and thought about over the weekend as well.
Hi Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Looking forward to reading of your adventures!
Heidi,
You are quick on the uptake! I too pricked my ears when Pastor said pity as I thought that was a good motivation. He went on to define more of a looking down on others.In my (very scrawled) notes, I have "God has done all for us, we have nothing to be proud of."
When I write on Monday I use my notes and Pastors outline but it is totally my own thoughts on the matter so not always exactly what he has said. (Just want to cover him as I tend to have very waffly private thoughts.
Hi Ruby,
ReplyDeleteSo well said!
Blessings,
Jillian
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Ah yes, loving the brethren! It's a hard thing, but someone's got to do it. They aren't going to get it from the world, are they? So, we need to love them, and they us. It's showing our love for Christ.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you've heard this little ditty about unity amongst the brethren....
ReplyDeleteTo live above with saints we love,
Oh, that will be glory.
To live below with saints we know,
Well, that's another story.
It can be a challenge, but a command. Thanks for stirring us on to love and good deeds!
Very good reminder. Loving one another helps us stand when others (especially family members) are against us. Love and unity with in the church is invauluable.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the typo. I'm a little sleep deprived today.
ReplyDeleteMommyMindy's ditty is so true!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking how our brethren on the net can be so much easier to get along with than some of our real life acquaintances!