Love One Another

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Galatians 5:34-35

Brotherly kindness. That brings so many things to my mind. Some are big, some are small, but all touch someone’s life.  

The example of brotherly kindness that came to my mind first was the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37. When the expert of the law asked Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”, Jesus asked him what was written in the law. The answer was, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’, and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  That’s when Jesus shared the parable of the Samaritan helping the injured man on the road. Three people came upon the beaten man who was half dead-a Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan.  It was the Samaritan who showed true brotherly kindness to the man. He took care of him and paid for a place for him to heal. The Samaritan loved this stranger with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength, and all his mind. To me, this is a huge example of brotherly kindness.

The second command was to “Love your neighbor as yourself”. If we stop to think about this, do we really do that, or even attempt that? In this day and time showing brotherly kindness has taken a backseat to self. With social media we feel the freedom to say or respond to things anyway we want to. We spew hatred, judgement, and our own agendas with words we would never say to that person’s face. We feel like we have a “right” to share what we think. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” If we truly shared brotherly kindness with each other, there would not be so much division in our country, our state, our community or our families.  

So, how do we show brotherly kindness?  It doesn’t have to be as big as the story of the Good Samaritan.  It could be as simple as smiling at a stranger we pass in Walmart. It could be opening a door or holding a door open for someone. It could be slowing down to allow someone to enter your lane of traffic (and not yelling at them to speed up). It could be telling the customer service representative to have a blessed day, especially after they have dealt with a long line of customers. And the list could go on.

I personally like to show brotherly kindness with a smile. I like to smile. I like to see other people respond with a smile. It was so hard for me during Covid when everyone was required to wear a mask. I couldn’t see people’s smiles and they couldn’t see mine. I’m so glad those days are past. Your act of brotherly kindness might be a handshake, a word of comfort, serving someone a cup of coffee, rocking a baby in Kid City, etc. The list is endless. Find your gift of sharing brotherly kindness. John 4:32 says, “A new command I give you. Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciple, if you love one another.” Your act of brotherly kindness could change the world-one person at a time.

We want to thank Hope Warren for sharing this post.