My Brother’s Keeper
When I look at all the questions asked in the Bible, one always stands out. In Genesis 4, after Cain had killed his brother, Abel, the Lord asked about Abel, and Cain responded: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9) Do we have a responsibility to watch out and care for our fellow Christians?
The Scriptures say we should watch over one another. For example, if I see my brother “overtaken in a fault,” we must exhort them, lest they be hardened by their sin (Hebrews 3:12-14). If I know my brother is erring, I have a responsibility to go to him. We also have to be willing to “bear their burdens” (Galatians 6:1-2.). I must be willing to forgive when they repent (Ephesians 4:32). Above all, we have a responsibility to “…love one another as Christ loved us” (John 13:34-35.)
Sometimes one of the hardest things we must do is to love each other. We are not always very lovable. We do things to each other, things that many times we do not mean to do, but nevertheless, we have a tendency to hurt one another and get on each others nerves.
At times, it has to be appalling for God to look down to see how we treat one another. At times we are quick to throw one another overboard. Someone has said the Christian army is the only one in which we shoot our own soldiers. Where is the love, the care for one another, the patience and perseverance? As John wrote: We love because he first loved us.( 1 John 4:19)And Jesus Himself said “…love one another, as I have loved you.” John 15:12 So, if we love each other… our ministries and our service to God will become powerful and will reflect the God that we serve. And, our love should be something that is real and seen by others so that others can see the kind of God we serve.
One person observed: Love is a language that can be heard by the deaf and seen by the blind.
Rob Combs
No comments:
Post a Comment