Practice Showing Your Brotherly Love

This is our B moment. Our moment to be still…to be fed by the Word of God…to be grateful.

Scripture reference: Romans 12:10 (ESV)

Today, I am thinking about brotherly love.

We’re wrapping up our series on love. We started with the depths of a mother’s love and talked about how some of her sacrifices are obvious while others can go unseen and unspoken. We then discussed how the same is true for God’s love. Sometimes His hand can appear front and center, and other times He shows His love to us behind the scenes.

Now, I am thinking about the term philia, which is the Greek word for brotherly or affectionate love. If we really love God unconditionally, this is how we should show up for His children; we should be sure to show them brotherly love. When I think about this, I think about the dispute between Abraham and his nephew Lot.

Abraham and Lot lived in the same area and were both wealthy men as they had a number of sheep and cattle to manage. In fact, they had so many animals that each outgrew their own pastures, which caused the herdsmen for both men to argue over space.

One day, Abraham went to Lot and told him that they needed to stop arguing because they were family. To that end, he asked Lot to choose whatever portion of land he desired to live on, and Abraham would move his family and cattle to reside somewhere else.

Abraham not only demonstrated brotherly love, but he did it under heated circumstances. Lot, on the other hand, responded in a very selfish way. He chose the most fertile land near the Jordan Valley and made Abraham move to a new area.

Yet in the end, we see that Abraham made the better choice as Lot chose land near Sodom, a city God would ultimately destroy. As we think about brotherly love, let us hold onto these words: “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10 (ESV)

Please share this reflection as others desire to be inspired.

So today, go show some brotherly love.