How Do You Love Your Brethren?

One of the truly amazing blessings, brethren, that God our Father gives us is His spiritual family. It's His family. When we accept His calling, are baptized, and receive the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, the laying on of hands, we become His sons and daughters, awaiting the return of Jesus Christ, when we will be born into His eternal family with glorious and immortal spirit bodies. With the receiving of God's Holy Spirit in us, we also become brothers and sisters with those in God's church. And on into the future, we will remain brothers and sisters in the family of God.

If you think about it, in many ways, we had better be learning how to get along with each other.

That means we've got to be learning how to love one another God's way. Now, at times, you may think that God has called us to have an isolated and personal relationship with Him and Jesus Christ only. But that is not the complete picture, is it? God's calling includes our need to develop lifelong and loving relationships with others He has called, others who have made the same commitment to God that we make at baptism. And God wants all of us brothers and sisters in His family to learn to love one another, to edify, exhort, comfort each other through all the stages of our lives, including any trials and persecution we may face.

Our walk through that narrow gate and upon that difficult way which leads to life is not meant to be a lonesome and friendless walk.

It's not meant to be a lonesome and friendless walk. It's meant to be shared with our brothers and sisters as we follow Jesus Christ. It is an uncomfortable thought. Very encouraging. We learned this truth with Christ's words. If you turn with me, please, to Mark 3, Mark 3, verses 31-35. And I'd like for us to read this together.

Mark 3, verses 31-35.

Going back to a time when Jesus was teaching. Then his brothers and his mother came, and standing outside, they sent to him calling him. And a multitude was sitting around him, around Jesus, and they said to him, look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. But he answered them, saying, who is my mother or my brothers? And he looked around in a circle at those who sat about him, and he said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and my sister and mother. Jesus made very clear here that seeking to do the will of the Father, instead of our own will, marks us as part of his family. And what exactly is God's will? God's will is that we receive salvation. That's his will that we receive salvation. We read that in John 6, verses 38-40.

John 6, verses 38-40. Jesus said, For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Then, when we also understand Galatians 3, verses 26-29, let's be turning back there, when we understand Galatians 3, verses 26-29, we know that through baptism, we all share this hope of the resurrection.

So, Galatians 3, verses 26-29, now. Here, Paul was inspired to compose these words. Galatians 3, 26, For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you, as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And so, no matter who or what we are, when we accept the calling of our Father to salvation, and being convicted of our sins against God, we repent, are baptized, and receive the laying on of hands and the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit, then we have put on Christ.

Jesus Christ is then our brother. And we become brothers and sisters. The word we often see is brethren. It can mean members of the body, members of a church. We become brethren to all who are committed and remain steadfast with God. And that's what happens. Do you notice what happens after baptism? The person who is baptized steps out of the waters of baptism. Hands are laid upon him, the prayer is said. And then what's the next thing that happens? What I see around here is we all crowd around.

We are polite, but we crowd around. We've got to shake hands, we've got to give a hug. And what do we say? Welcome to the family. Welcome to the family. You're a new creation. You're a brother and sister with the rest of us. And what's interesting, when you think about it, yes, we are brothers, sisters, and God's ever-growing family at that moment.

And interestingly enough, that means your mother can be your sister. Your sons can be your brother. And your grandpa can be your brother. If you were here last Saturday night, it almost sounds like a song we heard, doesn't it? I'm my own grandpa. Mr. Stolle is not here, but he sang that fun song. But isn't it interesting? It makes it interesting to your families. Your son is also your brother. It's kind of a wonderful thing. And however it works out, and your family, perhaps.

And certainly, we lose nothing of value when we commit ourselves to God. Let's notice what Jesus said about that over in Mark 10 now, please. Mark 10, verses 29 through 30. We lose nothing in our commitment to God.

Some would say we're giving up a lot, and I guess we would say, yeah, we are too. But in another sense, we're not giving up anything that's valuable. Mark 10, verses 29 through 30. Jesus speaking again. So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands. We're supposed to be willing to give all those up, to love those less than we love God and serving God.

He was giving those up for my sake in the Gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions. So we make an exchange of sorts, and what we get in exchange is far more valuable. And then he adds, it's not just in this time, but he continues, not only in this time, but in the age to come, eternal life.

Again, that's salvation. Again, God's will is that we be his sons and daughters, and that we be brothers and sisters forever in his eternal family. All of this, what we've considered so far, brings me to a question I want to pose. I guess two questions, because it's a little different than my title. My question then is, how then should we be brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ in treating each other? My title is, how do you love your brethren? How do you love your brethren? How should we brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ be treating each other?

Well, let's think about that. Might we simply want to treat each other the very same way we were treated by our brothers or sisters? Or maybe, by the way, if your brothers and sisters are nearby, maybe they're still treating you in a way. Some of us may not like that. If we were so fortunate to have siblings, would we want to be treated the same way in God's family and treated by our brothers and sisters and the families we've been reared up in?

And I guess that would depend on how well we were treated in our natural families. I have heard a number of frightening stories about sibling rivalry in my lifetime. And I dare say some of us here have had not so fun experiences. Maybe with real-life Bart Simpsons, or maybe you had a Lucy Van Pelt. Remember Lucy Van Pelt? Peanuts, Linus and Lucy? That Lucy? Okay, I've got to go back in time for some of you. Or maybe your siblings are a little bit more like the Three Stooges. Hitting you, popping your back of the head, doing outrageous things. I don't know. I'm trying to address all generations here. Psychologists tell us that no family is perfect.

We knew that. We knew that. We know that because there are no perfect people. In fact, you can jot this down. Romans 3.23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So there are no perfect people. We're all sinners. Of course, no family is going to be perfect. In addition, all families do experience periods when crises occur. Even in the happiest families, there can be sudden job loss, sudden catastrophe of some sort, health issues.

That makes it tough on the families, and that can reflect on how we might treat each other, how brothers and sisters might treat each other. Of course, there are other families, and God has called many of us from families like this.

Some families experience chronic and long-term dysfunction, sometimes due to alcohol and drug abuse. These are just facts. Sometimes domestic violence. Even gambling and all sorts of things can make living with family very difficult. And so, looking only to our own life experiences for guidance of being a brother or sister, I think we might agree it's not the wisest thing we would want to do as far as learning how to treat each other in God's family.

Yes, we need to seek help from God's word. And the Bible does offer valuable instruction in how to relate, or maybe even how not to relate, to our brothers and sisters. Now, the best foundation, of course, for all relationships, for any relationship we have, both with God and with neighbor, and especially with brethren, is to found it on the Ten Commandments. It's to found our base, our relationships on God's Ten Commandments.

And as regards are relating to family and our neighbors, the last six commandments especially tell us how to treat our brother and our neighbor. Honor your mother and father. Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. And don't covet anything that is your neighbor's. If it doesn't belong to you, don't covet it. Leave it alone. Of course, Deuteronomy 5, Exodus 20. Now, Jesus has greatly expanded upon the meaning of the commandments in his teachings. Let's look at one example, Matthew 5, verse 21-22. Matthew 5, 21-22, a well-known example of how Christ expanded the meaning of the commandments to enhance and draw our attention to the larger spiritual meaning.

For example, in Matthew 5, verse 21-22, Jesus' teaching, he's expounding here about the larger spiritual meaning of the sixth commandment. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of judgment. Here's the expansion. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, no one seems to know quite what that means.

But at that time, it was a terribly bad insult to give to somebody. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the counsel, but whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.

Some translations put in, you idiot, you numbskull. And of course, that's when I cringe a little bit. Because sometimes I say things like that. I don't know about you. I hope you don't do that. Do we really believe what Jesus said?

Well, we'd better. We'd better. We must be very careful. This is just one example. Be very careful in what we think and say about others. And of course, I'm addressing this to how we treat our brethren as well. Obeying God's commandments is absolutely critical to living according to God's will, as we're supposed to be, and not according to our own will. That's what we've committed to at baptism. Let's turn to John 15, verse 9. We need to recall the words of Jesus recorded for us here, John 15, verses 9 through 11. These commandments, some say that Christ came up with a new set of commandments, and we don't have to pay attention to these anymore. It's not true. John 15, verses 9 through 11. Jesus said, As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. Dwell in it. Make it all a part of your life, your every being. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. Verse 12, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you, and greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. Again, very encouraging words, very humbling words, sobering words, too. Believing God in keeping His commandments with humility and self-sacrifice, it's critical to fulfilling God's will.

We cannot be brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ if we do not obey God's commandments. They're full of sense. Again, they are foundational to all our relationships, and especially those within the Church. Now, that's the founding. The Bible does record many accounts about brothers and sisters. Many of the accounts we find in the Bible about brothers and sisters and how they get along are not very happy ones. In fact, they're rather tragic. So many of the brothers and sisters we read about in the Bible did not obey God's love as they should have. So what can these examples teach us? Let's look at a few.

The earliest example—guess where I'm going—a brother not getting along occurs in Genesis 4.

The very first brothers set the rest of the brothers of humanity a terrible example.

Cain killed Abel, of course, out of anger and apparent jealousy because God accepted Abel's sacrifice, but not his sacrifice. Let's begin reading. I'm not going to read the whole account because I know we are probably quite familiar with it. Genesis 4, verse 6, breaking into the thought, Cain's countenance is, or he turned angry, his face has fallen, he's no good at hiding his feelings. Verse 6, Genesis 4, So the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not you be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. Now, if any of us have ever felt jealous anger, or someone else's winning praise, or being praised, or doing something right, and they get a little success and a pat on the back, if we've ever been jealous about that, I think we might vaguely understand Cain's attitude. But I'd greatly encourage us and warn us not to indulge in that sort of jealous anger. It's a dangerous thing to cling to. You see, Cain didn't let it go. He held on to it, and he yielded to sin, and he killed his brother. Verse 9, Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? I've tried reading different intonations. Was he being a smart aleck? Did he sincerely mean it? Was he just obviously oblivious? My conclusion is, I believe that Cain knew perfectly well that he was to be his brother's keeper. I do not doubt that. Cain knew better. He knew he was to love his brother. That's caring for your brother. Now, some have called Cain's earliest example of what we now call sibling rivalry. I guess that may be so. Yet any one of us, even though this is ancient history, it's still true history, and yet any one of us, even today, can still be prone to this same jealousy toward our brothers and sisters. This is not something we need to be doing in our families and any family. Let's turn to Genesis 25 now. Genesis 25, another famous family, brothers. Genesis 25, we read about Jacob and Esau, another set of brothers who did not love and respect each other as they should have. Their rivalry, another example of sibling rivalry, was rather unique if you read the account because it began in the womb. Look at verses 21-23 of Genesis 25.

Poor mom. She didn't know what was going on. Verse 21-23, Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was buried. The Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Verse 22, but the children struggled together within her, and she said, if all is well, why am I like this? Why is there like a dance set going on in her womb? It's just terrible. I've never been there. I can't quite explain it. I've seen my baby's role in my wife's womb, and it's really kind of...

First, it's kind of freakish, actually. It's just weird. But then it's really cool. But can you imagine? This poor woman. She finally got the babies, and there's two of them, and she's frightened. She does not understand. But the children struggled within her, and so she said, if all is well, why am I like this? And so she went to inquire of the Lord. She went to the right place to ask her question. And the Lord said to her, well, two nations are in your womb. Two peoples shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.

Now, the brothers' differences became more obvious with time when we read this account. I'm not going to read the whole account, but you can later. Their differences became a little more obvious with time, it seems. And also something unfortunate happened, it seems. Each parent had a favorite.

Let's look at verses 27-28. Verses 27-28, so the boys grew, and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. But Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

And of course what we see here is favoritism, or partiality. And of course, in any family, that is never a good thing. In any family, it's never a good thing. Now, I think we're also familiar with the larger story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. And then later, how Rebekah helped to disguise Jacob as his brother Esau, so he might receive Isaac's blessing. The firstborn, it was really Esau's. Now, God would have fulfilled the prophecy in his own way. But Rebekah and Jacob took matters into their own hands through their own clever deceitfulness. And again, there's something else. Deceitfulness. Deceitfulness in any family is also never a good thing. It's never a good thing. But I'd like for us to turn to Genesis 27. That's where the story continues on. Because here we read of the absolute anguish that Esau experienced when he learned that Jacob had cheated him of his blessing. Now, Esau has just brought his savory meal to Isaac. He worked hard for that. He didn't have his mom help him cook it. And he just brought his savory meal to Isaac and has asked for his father's blessing. In reading now, Genesis 27, verses 32-35.

And so he asks his father, bless me now. Verse 32, And his father Isaac said to him, Well, who are you? That would be pretty shocking. Who are you? So he said, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly and said, Who? He couldn't believe his ears. Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. And indeed, he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry. This is heart-rending. And he said to his father, Bless me, me also, O my father.

But he said, Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.

Jacob coveted, and then he stole his brother's blessing. Continuing verse 41-42. Any shock here? So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father at hand, then I will kill my brother Jacob. Sounds like a root of bitterness, vengeance, and grudge. In the words of Esau, her older son were told to Rebecca. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.

Not a way of comforting ourselves, planning on the murder of your brother. Lying, deceit, feething, jealousy, all destroys trust among siblings. These are never good things to have in any family.

Now we might briefly note a few other fractious sibling relationships. In Genesis 30, we learned that jealousy and anger are not just for boys. It does not just belong among brothers. You remember Jacob's two wives, Rachel and Leah. They were sisters. In jealousy and anger, long smoldered between them because Rachel was barren, and Leah had many children. Great anger, great upset, great turmoil, and, dare we say, dysfunction in that family. Then, years later, the sons of Jacob came to hate their brother Joseph. Oh, Joseph was their father's favorite. His brothers intended to murder Joseph, but then they decided instead to sell him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. And then they told their father, Jacob, that Joseph had been devoured by a wild beast. That's in Genesis 37. And if you want to know more about family dysfunction, there was a lot of intrigue among the children of King David.

Absalom hated his half-brother Amnon because he had raped his sister Tamar.

Absalom avenged Tamar by murdering Amnon. Amnon was David's oldest son. That's in 2 Samuel 13. And then, years later, Adaniah tried several times to take the throne from his half-brother Solomon. Each time he was stopped, finally, the second time Solomon had Adaniah executed.

They're half-brothers. That's 1 Kings chapters 1 and 2. Now, there are other stories about brothers and sisters. We could turn to and consider, but I think we get the point. Jealousy, anger, deceitfulness, hate, all sorts of other carnal attitudes and approaches we could list. They should never be allowed to rule over our hearts and minds.

They are sinful. They are the exact opposite of the mind of Christ, which we must be putting on as the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. We cannot allow those attitudes to hold sway in our minds and hearts. Instead, we have to guard against them.

We must not allow our attitudes and things that happen to us to put us at odds with our brethren. When we find ourselves suddenly caught up in a fit of jealousy or anger, any attitude that is sinful, we've got to repent of it. And staying close to God and avoiding things that tempt us will help us to overcome any sin, even jealousy and anger. However, and this is so important to understand, we especially need the strength of God's Holy Spirit because our own will is weak. Our own will, we may think we're strong, and I know that. I think I'm strong, too. But against sin, against certain temptations, we are never going to be strong enough. We've got to be turning to God and asking for more help with His Holy Spirit. We must do it with humble sincerity, and God will give us exactly what we need.

He will not fail to answer our prayer. And that's good news because, you know what, we really don't want to afflict our brothers and sisters with these rotten attitudes, do we? No, not really. We don't want that. We love our brothers and sisters when we stay strong with God and let His Spirit reign in us.

And if we're all doing that, then we're all mutually striving to overcome our sins. And the more we all mutually strive to overcome our sins, then we're going to have more unity and more peace among us. The exact opposite of what we've been reading about in these terrible, sad examples in the Bible.

Speaking of unity and peace, when we turn to the New Testament, we find ample instruction in how we must be treating our brothers and sisters. Let's look at a few Scriptures. Ephesians 4, verses 1-6. Ephesians 4, verses 1-6.

Ephesians 4, verses 1-6.

Here we can read what some call Paul's call for unity. He's speaking to his brethren. Ephesians 4, verses 1-6. Paul wrote, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling in which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Notice he says, the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

That is unity. And it's only through God, through His Holy Spirit, and it needs to be dwelling in us.

True unity among brethren can only be achieved with the presence and help of God's Holy Spirit in us. And we must humble ourselves. We've got to put away our pride or any attitude of self-importance. And we've got to allow God to motivate us to acts of loving obedience and selflessness and faith. Faith is what we do and we don't see how we're going to do it. You don't know how you're going to love somebody? You start doing it anyway. That's what faith is about. And when we're all yielding ourselves to God's influence, we will be mutually supporting and encouraging one another. We will have true unity and harmony between us. Will we ever get it perfectly in this lifetime? No. But that's no excuse not to try. We have to keep working at it. Leading up to this call for unity, Paul also revealed that he fervently prayed that Jesus Christ would reign over the hearts and minds of his brethren. To reign over the hearts and minds of his brethren through his Holy Spirit. Let's look at that. Ephesians 3. Maybe just across the page in your Bibles. Ephesians 3, chapters 14-19. Again, Paul asked for God's Spirit to fill the hearts and minds of his brethren so that they might have true unity. And when you focus just a bit here on what he wrote and you think about it, what becomes obvious is that Paul was truly concerned for them. This wasn't just something simple, a little prayer. And, oh yeah, I prayed for you. He really prayed profoundly and deeply because he profoundly loved his brethren. They were his brothers and sisters. Let's look at what he said. Ephesians 3.14. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit and the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

It's something we need to think about when we get along and meditate on this and understand the profound thing that Paul is praying for. It's an amazingly selfless prayer that Paul prayed for his brethren. He wanted them to be filled with God's Spirit. He wanted them to receive salvation. He wanted them in the kingdom.

Who, I wonder, prays for us, brethren, now, the way that Paul did then?

Do you? Do I?

I think we should all follow Paul's example and pray for true unity among God's people.

Together, we stand stronger in service to God and for one another when we have this unity and we have God's Spirit in us. And this is what brothers and sisters should be praying for each other. And unity is what brothers and sisters should have in a loving family and out of loving obedience to their Father.

This is part of how we love our brothers and sisters. And like the discord that marked the relationship between the brethren we read earlier about, we must repent of any wrong divisive attitudes. We must seek the way of humility, patience, and long suffering instead. I'm going to strive for peace, strive for reconciliation. It's not easy to try to make things right when we've messed it up with a friend, with a brother. It's kind of hard to straighten it out sometimes, but we have to try. We have to work at it. We must never allow hurts or offenses. Whether those hurts or offenses are real or only imagined, we can't allow them to turn into festering roots of bitterness. Sometimes the offense I've taken with people through the years, between me and them, and sorted out, it's all because I thought they had said something. I thought they meant this, and it was nothing of the kind. Here I stewed about it, and it got all worked up. It was all in here. It never happened. I wonder if sometimes some of our hurts and offenses are somewhat a figment of our imagination. We won't know unless we talk to our brothers and sisters and find out. None of us is perfect. None of us is without carnal nature trying to get the better of us. But as brothers and sisters of Christ, we need to remember that we share in this mutual battle against self and sin. If we understand we're all battling the same thing just in different ways, and if we humbly remember that fact, I think that will go a long way to helping us talk to each other and strive to help one another overcome the common enemy of sin or carnality, and to be more like Christ. We are on the same difficult path leading to salvation. We are to help one another, and that's what God's family should be doing. That's what helps to build true unity among brethren.

And then, as alluded to in previous scriptures, we must also, all of us, become better and better at living a life of self-sacrifice, because we have committed ourselves to living life according to God's will and not our own will.

Let's turn to Romans 12.

Romans 12, in many ways, what we read in this chapter, is Paul's elaboration upon how to be a living sacrifice in service to God. That's what he mentions here in verse 1 to chapter 12.

He just kind of makes it his main point, and then he keeps expounding upon it from there. And so, in this chapter, Paul elaborates upon how to be a living sacrifice in service to God and in service to brethren, and of course, by extension, to all humanity. And so, again, my question is, how should we treat one another?

Well, we treat each other best when we dedicate ourselves to emulating Jesus Christ.

Just as Jesus sacrificed himself in service to God in humanity, so must we do our part of sacrificing ourselves in our wills in loving service to God and neighbor. Let's read here Romans 12, verses 1 through 2. Paul wrote, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, brothers and sisters. And by the way, Paul says, brethren, it's not a filler phrase. It's not a comma. It's not a pause. When you look at other situations, places where Paul says, brethren, when he says, brethren, he's speaking emphatically. He's speaking from the heart. When he says, brethren, it's my take on this, he really means my brothers, my sisters, whom I love. It's not a comma. It's not a filler phrase. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. I touched upon this a couple weeks ago, the last time I spoke here. It is reasonable. This is totally logical from God's point of view and from our point of view when we understand when this has been revealed to us. Verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That means we have to allow Christ to get in our hearts and our heads and our minds and start helping us turn around and repent. That's done through the Holy Spirit. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Well, God wants us to achieve salvation.

Do what God says and prove that's what you're going to get. That's one way of looking at this. Verses 3-8, Paul emphasizes that every member of the church has a gift to be shared. Do you believe that?

I do. I do. We each have something to give. It's something to give but not to hold onto and hoard up for ourselves. That's not the way gifts are supposed to work, is it? They're supposed to give them.

Paul stresses, especially though, that we be humble in using our gifts. Sometimes when we use gifts, we might get a big head thinking, this is all our doing. But the fact is, these gifts are really not our gifts, are they? Where does everything we have come from? Everything we are. Where does it come from? It's God's. We really don't have a gift. It's actually from God through us. It's supposed to go on to others. We have to be very humble and careful when we use our gifts. Our gifts are not our own. It's how Paul urges us to use our gifts for the benefit of one another in the entire church, the body of Christ. Let's look here, verse 3. For I say, Paul writes, Through the grace given me to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Again, be humble about this gifting you're going to be doing, serving and volunteering. But think soberly. That means be sensible. Keep God's sound judgment about you. Think soberly, as God has dealt to each one in measure of faith. For as we have many members in the body, but all the members do not have the same function. Making a comparison with the human body. We heard about that in the sermonette. But all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ. And individually, members of one another. We're that interconnected by the Spirit. Verse 6. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us hoard them.

Okay, you're laughing. Some of you are listening. That's good. You're all listening, I know. No, we're supposed to use them. We're not supposed to sit on them or dig a hole and bury it. We're supposed to use them. If your gift is prophecy, let us prophesy a proportion to our faith. If it's ministry serving, then use it in ministering. He who teaches, teach. He who exhorts and exhortations. He who gives, give with liberality. He who leads with diligence.

And he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Two weeks ago, I talked about this word, diligence. Maybe you remember what I said. We look at this English word, we think, diligence. Okay, that means good work ethic. That means just do a great job and be on time and clean up after you're done. That's really not, that's only a smidgen of what this diligence really means in the original Greek. The original Greek, again, is spode, S-P-O-U-D-E. It actually means earnest care. If you're earnest about something, you're going to put all your best effort into it, aren't you? It also means heartfelt attention. Again, that's how we're supposed to lead, with all we got, with the best interest of the people we're serving in leading. Next, in verses 9-13, Paul more specifically addresses how we ought to relate to one another. He goes a little more into what we are supposed to be doing as brethren. In other places, he speaks more generally to humanity, but here, in general, here he's a little more specific to us as brethren.

How are we to relate to another? The underpinning, again, is love. Love becomes the founding key, God's commandments, expression of love. Verse 9-13, he writes, Let love be without hypocrisy, of whore what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another, with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality. And here Paul is emphasizing that our love for one another must be sincere. It's not something we should fake. It's not artificial. But Paul also seems to know that our zeal can flag and weary and wear out from time to time. He knows that, but he's not going to let it be an excuse. He says, in other words, keep it up. He exhorts us not to slacken, but to continue diligently, earnestly, that heartfelt care, and all our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters in Christ. However it is, we have found a gift and a way to serve.

Now I've looked at these verses we just read, and what I found in them was sort of a checklist. Sort of a checklist to evaluate my diligence, or our diligence, and how well we treat one another as brethren. Just a few questions. I'd like to share those with you.

Here's a question to kind of help me, us, evaluate how am I loving you.

First question, and I'm going to use the plural we, okay? Are we using our gifts in service to God, or are we hiding our gifts? I've touched upon that. Are we using our gifts, or are we hiding our gifts? I think it's a serious offense to God not to use what He gives us to use. Another question. Now if I start pestering, you know what I mean? Good. Do we know all of our brethren, or do we prefer knowing only those in our cliques? Just saying. I don't know if you're in a clique or not. I don't sit here and stare. But my years of experience, it's normal for some of us birds to find other birds like ourselves, right? Do we know all of our brethren? I'm not speaking to our young people and old people. I'm not picking on anybody. Or do we prefer knowing only our cliques, people that are our closest friends?

Third question. Are we focused on our calling, or are we focused more on this world?

It's easy to get caught up in things of life, isn't it? It's what happens to us. By the way, I'm on high ground right now in front of you. I get that. But I'm not on moral high ground. I struggle with these very same things, and that's why I wanted to share them with you. Because I know we all do this. We're brothers and sisters. We're all very much alike. Are we focused on our calling, or are we focused more on this world? Number four. Are our trials causing us to complain more or to pray more?

Are our trials causing us to complain more or to pray more? Here's another question. Are we praying like we should, or are our prayers just thoughts tossed up in the air? We can do that if we get in a hurry sometimes. We don't care as the world. We creep in. Are we praying like we should, or are our prayers just thoughts tossed up in the air? I asked this question to myself, too. Here's another one. Are we doing what we can to help our brethren in need, or are we only helping ourselves?

Sometimes I know with myself, and I have to stop it, it's easy to do what's convenient. Not what's necessary, if you know what I mean. Are we doing what we can to help our brethren in need, or are we only helping ourselves?

And then this is the last question I'll ask.

Do we practice hospitality in our homes, or are we too preoccupied with our cares and concerns about physical things?

Now, the word hospitality is an old idea, and it literally has to do with entertaining people under one's roof. We do a lot of hospitality back here, but I think there's something very special that happens when we do it in our homes. And it's not the fault of anybody that can't do that. I understand that. We probably practice hospitality when we're exhausted. We're not up to that anymore. I get that. This is not to make anyone feel guilty. But those of us that can, can we do more? Do we practice hospitality in our homes, or are we too preoccupied with our cares and concerns about physical things? I don't have a big house, so I don't have nice things.

Some of the greatest hospitality I've experienced has been in little tiny shacks, really, and not a whole lot.

You want good hospitality, go visit folks in a nursing home.

And they might share with you a Ritz cracker or something. It's great hospitality. It really is. It's really great. So, those are some questions I had, and I thought about what Paul's saying here in verses 9-13.

How well are we practicing love towards our brethren? Now, that's a question you have to answer between you and God. Don't take your answer to me. That's between you and God. But I'm pretty sure we could all do better. I really do. And I hope we do.

So God's word reveals that brothers and sisters, we ought to be loving one another. We're brethren in the church, a family of God. And I find it humbling and meaningful to remember that we are family. And I know that could become a rather meaningless, feel-good phrase. We are family. I think that's a song.

The world wants to cheapen that word into something rather tawdry. That's not worth having. It's kind of like what people want to do with the word brethren or brother or sister. We want to treat it as something cheap. Those are words, God. I don't know if we created the word exactly. I guess you could. It gives us our intelligence. But those words, those are things He created. Family, brother, sister, mother, father. Those are not things we should cheapen and treat in just any old way.

As members of the church, body of Christ, and in this congregation, we are to treat each other like God's family should. We're to help, and to share, we're to strive to get along. I know we're going to have spats or disagreements at times. We're human. When that happens, just pause. There are no pause buttons on us. I wish there were sometimes. Pause, as it were, would be humble and pray, and then go talk with each other. Practice reconciliation. We're going to take one another for granted from time to time. Again, I know this because we're human. We take one another for granted when we come to expect certain people to always do whatever we think they're supposed to do for us. Again, we need to pause, be humble, pray, check our attitude about that and our approach with those who serve. Don't do that. I hope we all say please and thank you. My mother beat that into my head and other places. Be sure to remember to say please and thank you. If we evaluate ourselves and realize that we are being impatient and we get a little edgy and short-tempered at time, maybe a little too self-centered, we just need to stop and try harder with God's help to make some positive changes in our lives. If people approach us and they point that out to us, I try not to be offended when that happens to me because, you know what, they're usually right. And that's something I need to fix. I want to fix it. I want to get along with everybody. God is our Father. We are brothers and sisters of Christ. Our attitude and approach must be different from the world, and it will be when we humble ourselves, we repent, apologize to our siblings, apologize to God, and keep moving forward to perfection. We're all wanting to be more like Christ. We're striving at it. We're in this together. We're on that same difficult path. We shouldn't understand when we have bad days. We don't do it. We should help each other. That takes a lot of courage, but that's one of those C's, isn't it? Conviction, commitment, and courage.

Whatever we do, we need to be striving to be more like Jesus Christ. Have diligence, earnest and heartfelt care, concern, love, respect, courtesy, empathy, real friendship with one another, and let's try to have all those good fruits of God's Holy Spirit.

But we must not neglect this so important and vital point. Very vital point. To love one another as God instructs, we have got to stay close to God and allow His Word and His Holy Spirit to motivate us to greater acts of faith, obedience, and love.

It's all a matter of true life or death. Jesus said, For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and my sister and mother. God has called us to salvation. That's His will for us. It is God's will that we be His children, brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ, now and then forever, in His eternal family. That should excite us. That should really excite us. All this we need to do, He's going to help us do it. We just need to ask Him, and He will help. So let us love our brethren more.

And please, let's let our brethren love us more, too. And may we always be dedicated to God and to our reasonable service and all to God's glory.