"Now for this very reason also applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness..."--2 Peter 1:5-7. Ingredient to a proper faith in Christ #6: Brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness, another crucial ingredient to a proper faith in Christ.
Brotherly kindness. I believe this concept is pretty straightforward. Believe it or not, the literal Greek word here for brotherly kindness is philadelphia, the city we know as the city of brotherly kindness. It comes from philos (love as between friends or brothers) and adelphos (brother).
Brotherly kindness. By the time we reach brotherly kindness, we should have the previous five down pretty well. However, all seven areas listed in this context always need to be worked on constantly. But what is brotherly kindness?
Brotherly kindness is a form of love. Philos has the connotation of having a fond affection for coming from the Greek word phileo which is in contrast to agape, the kind of love Christ had for us. We must have brotherly kindness.
Brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness is the second highest quality a Christian could ever have. The more that I look at this passage, these seven ingredients seem to be ranked in order of importance from lowest (moral excellence or excellence of character) to the highest, love (agape) which we will look at Monday night.
Brotherly kindness. Brotherly kindness is the gateway to agape the sacrificial love Christ had for us.
Brotherly kindness. How are you doing in this area? Brotherly kindness is being willing to go out of your way to do something for a brother or sister in Christ without having to be asked. Brotherly kindness is being willing to step out of your comfort zone and talk to that brother/sister you may have had a problem or misunderstanding with in the past to clear the air. Brotherly kindness is taking a few minutes out of your day to encourage a brother/sister who needs it by word or deed. Or also, as was done for me last week, its being willing to take someone in at the last minute with short notice when a tragedy has suddenly struck their life. Thanks again for that Shane and Paula, you guys are awesome! :-)
Brotherly kindness. How are you doing in this area? We must remember that brotherly kindness is the gateway to the highest form of love that only our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ could demonstrate to the highest capacity.
Brotherly kindness. Brothers, sisters I urge you don't stop at brotherly kindness, at this point we are one step away from agape love. As one of my instructors here at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver Michael Hite put it, we must move to agape love. We will look more at agape love next week, the final and most important ingredient to a proper faith in Christ.
My encouragement to you in the meantime is this. Between now and Monday night, I encourage you to go out of your way to help someone in the the Lord's Church without having to be asked and perform an act of brotherly kindness. It could be as simple as opening a door or being willing to do some manual labor for someone.
Have a great weekend everyone. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! PRAY ABOUT IT! LOVE Y'ALL! GOD BLESS!
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