My son, Sev, is very affectionate to his younger sister, Kaitlyn. Sev usually gets things broken because of his hyper active ways. But when it comes to his sister, he's very careful. He tries to control his strength so he can be gentle with her. At times, Sev will dance for her so that she'll burst with joy and laughter. Sev would fondly refer to himself as "Tigger" and Kaitlyn as his "Pooh bear." We're blessed to have Sev as a loving brother to Kaitlyn.
We have a loving and affectionate God. He calls as His children. He loves us so much that He sends his own son, Jesus, to be our brother. As our Brother, he guides and shows us the way. He tells us parables and shows us how to relate to God our Father. He protects us, heals us and saves us from our sins. When God searched for Abel, Cain answered God by saying, "Am I my brother's keeper (Genesis 4:9)?" But Jesus our true brother will do everything for us. Even if He will be shamed, undergo suffering, and even put to death, just so that we will be saved.
How are we as brothers and sisters to others? Do we protect and save each other? Or do we seek for the fault of others? There three things that I remember in how we are to relate as bretheren. It's Three L's. We have to be loyal, loving, and life giving.
An example of being loyal is not to talk about other people when they are not around. Specially when it degrades the character of the person. Loyalty is also about not telling others of things that are shared to you in confidentiality. Most often the case is that we can't control ourselves from telling secrets. We find ourselves saying, "Don't tell others that I told you this.. ." Having a loose tongue breeds distrust. Another thing, being loyal is not about standing by your friend even if you know that what he or she is doing is wrong. Loyalty is about helping others to be true to the right principles and see them through in becoming better people.
"Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34)." This is Christ's challenge to us. Loving is not easy. We are able to love out of God's grace. Since we are dealing everyday with sinners like you and me, one is bound to disappoint the other. We have to learn to love in a way that is unconditional. In 1 Corinthians 13, it says everything about how we should love. One way to check if we are aligned to how God want us to love is to replace the word "love" to "your name" in the verses of 1 Cor. 13. It will sound like "Kirby is patient, Kirby is kind (and so on...) ."
Are we leading people to life or closer to death? Are we bringing them to the Lord or are we influencing them to sin? As a brother or sister, we have to be life giving. Loyalty and love will make a good relationship, but without the life that faith gives, it will be limited and possibly non-sustainable. Christ should be at the center of our relationships. We can do our best help out a friend or a family member, but it is Christ that will create the miracles in their lives. The best gift we can give them is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
May we be loyal, loving, and live giving to each other. Christ has shown us how to be a true brother. Indeed we are our brother's keeper. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16)."
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