Brotherly Love

Published:
March 10, 2023 (one year ago)

The new movie, “The Jesus Revolution,” made me laugh, cry and worship. Also, I cringed sometimes, and experienced conviction. Also, I realized that while peace and love were noble virtues to pursue, the hippies needed more than what they had in themselves to have peace and love. Love is more than a decision or a feeling. Love is actually a lot harder than the songs and slogans reflect. Personally, I have found that love can be confusing, complicated and emotionally draining. Loving enemies is hard. Tough love is tough. Willing the good and doing good for those who have hurt me is still not natural. Yet, as a follower of Jesus, the principal feature or identifying characteristic of my life is to be, love. In our study of Hebrews, we’ll see that twelve chapters of theology extolling the superiority of Jesus over all systems and persons have this principal conclusion and application, “Let brotherly love continue.” I shouldn’t be surprised, Paul did the same thing in Romans, Ephesians, Galatians and Colossians. The Holy Spirit is serious about this! Of course, this is the teaching of Jesus as well. In John 15 we read, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” Love is certainly expressed in actions but love is a disposition. Apart from an inner life that is becoming more like the inner life of Jesus, loving actions are impossible. We need supernatural help and ongoing practice if we are going to love as Jesus loved. And, the good news is, we have all the resources we need to love as Jesus loved. Let brotherly love continue.