Friday, April 26

Welcome back to Ann!  It's nice to have your comments again.  :)

As we wrap up our week on brotherly love, let's spend our time today thinking about what it looks like.  I loved the list Ann posted of good works she can do.  They are things we can all do, don't require a lot of money, and can make a huge difference in someone's life.  Actually, if only a few do the things on Ann's list a whole congregation can be changed because these things build trust and relationships.  Do you sometimes feel like since you are only one person you cannot possibly make a difference?  That's a lie Satan uses on us all.  Don't believe it.

In my little home school my granddaughter has been studying about Gideon.  One of the questions she had to answer was, "Why do you think God chose Gideon?"  Gideon asked the same question:

¹⁵ So he said to Him, “O my Lord,^[b] how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

After some discussion we decided He probably chose Gideon just because he was the least in his father's house who was in the weakest clan.  No one would question who was the one saving Israel.  Weak, fearful Gideon with only 300 men would never be able to do what they did without God's help.

God has probably not asked you to save a nation by attacking a huge army with only 300 men, but He has asked you to develop and show brotherly love which may just save a soul.  And He has asked you to do it diligently and to grow in it.  Jesus gives us a key to how to do this when He says, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  First you have to learn to love yourself as God does.  Studying will bring you to a realization of just how much God does love you - even though you are sometimes unlovable and cranky.  Accepting that love will then give you the courage and ability to reflect that love to those around you.  When someone is irritating or acting ugly you can learn to look past the actions to the precious soul and love them anyway - just as God loves you.

Assignment for today:
Read 1 Corinthians 13 and spend some time reflecting on how you can apply this in your relationship (or lack of it) with a difficult person in your life.  Share any insights you think might help the rest of us.

Thursday, April 25

 There are four passages in the New Testament that use the term "brotherly love" in the New King James Version.  One of them is the passage we have been studying.  The other three are:

 Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. ³ Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.   Hebrews 13


⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  Romans 12


⁹ But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;  1 Thessalonians 4


Here are some things I notice from these passages:
Hebrews 13:  It is on-going.  It's not a one-time event.  It involves service and involves putting yourself in the other person's place so you can know what to do to help them.

Romans 12: It involves actually liking each other, letting others have their way whenever possible, takes diligence (sound familiar?), and is how we serve the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4: God teaches us to have it.  It is wider than just the members of my local congregation.  It is something that should always be increasing in my life.

Assignment for today:
Tell us how you can like someone who annoys you (Romans 12:10).

Wednesday, April 24

Today let's take a moment to consider a type of woman who is mentioned in the New Testament - the widow indeed.  Now this is an older woman, which of course, none of us consider ourselves to be just yet.  She has lived her life in service to others.  She has lived brotherly kindness.

⁹ Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, ¹⁰ well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.  1 Timothy 5

Notice that she has a reputation for doing good works because she diligently follows them.  This seems to indicate a focus on finding some kind of good work to do regularly.  Some of her works are specifically mentioned:  being a wife, bringing up children, lodging strangers, serving the saints, relieving the afflicted...  These are all acts of service.  A good work is not necessarily some great deed for which  you will be lauded by all.  It is often just a little kindness that makes someone's load a little easier to bear.

A non-biblical example of such a woman in my own congregation is a single woman named Barbara.  She is always on the lookout for something someone might need as she shops.  Clothes, toys, food...she provides all kinds of things for the people in the congregation.  One day she even showed up at my house to help me paint the back fence and weed the garden.  Barbara is never in the limelight but always working.  What a great example of brotherly kindness!

Today's assignment:
1.  Take a few minutes to do a word search on "good works."
2.  Share a passage with us and comment on what you learned, found interesting, or can apply to your life.

Tuesday, April 23

My example of a woman who showed brotherly love is Tabitha.

³⁶ At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. ³⁷ But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.  Acts 9



It doesn't say a whole lot about this woman.  We don't know how old she was when she died or what she looked like.  We don't even know if she was a Jew or Gentile.  But we know she was beautiful.  Her life was filled with brotherly love.  How do we know that?  Because of how she lived.  Her life was full of good works and charitable deeds.

³⁹ Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. 


In her situation, those good deeds included making clothes for people.  That was what they needed that she could provide.

Today's assignment:
1.  Make a list of ways you have the ability to show brotherly love.  List your talents/supplies.
2.  Think of someone you can help with your particular abilities and do a good work.

Monday, April 22

Welcome to another week in 2 Peter.  This week we are looking at brotherly kindness - the trait listed after godliness.  When you look at the traits and the order in which they are listed, it seems that as we progress on our spiritual journey we are continually growing closer to being who God meant us to be - in His image.  God is love.  At this point we have started with faith, added moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, and godliness.  As each of these traits continue to grow, we can't help but put on brotherly kindness.  Just what is brotherly kindness?  Thayer says it is "loving one like a brother."  In this world of disfunctional families and broken homes, it may be difficult to know what that means.  As always, the Bible gives us many examples of this trait.

Your assignment for today:
1.  Choose a female character who showed (or did not show) brotherly love.
2.  Tell us how she showed this character - what it looked like in her life situation.