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What Does Brotherly Kindness Mean for a Christian? (Christian Character Series Part VIII)
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- [00:02]
A
Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio videos and Bible Study resources@christianquestions.com Our topic is what does brotherly kindness mean for a Christian? Here's Rick and Julie.
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B
Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor. Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?
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C
Second Peter 1, 6 and 7. And in your knowledge, self control. And in your self control, perseverance. And in your perseverance, godliness. And in your godliness, brotherly kindness. And in your brotherly kindness, love.
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B
The blueprint for Christian character development that the Apostle Peter gives us in Second Peter, Chapter one lays out for us a ladder of Christian character development that we as disciples of Christ, are to climb. Now, each rung of this ladder is vital to our ability in being able to progress up to the next rung. You need one to get to the next one. As we focused on one rung of this ladder at a time in this extended series, we've worked on making the connections between what our foundation is and how each step makes us more like Jesus. And that's the key. Now comes the seventh rung, and this one really begins to reveal what a truly developed Christianity character should look like.
- [01:28]
C
And before we get to our list in the theme text, let's look at the previous verse. It started us off with the foundation of faith, then moral excellence. So we'll do a quick recap of the first six rungs of this virtue ladder of Christian character.
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B
So the first rung way back is the allegiance attribute of faith, and that's
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C
really the allegiance of our life's direction.
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B
The second rung is the allegiance attribute of moral excellence, and that's the allegiance of our heart. So with faith in God's power and plan as our foundation, a godly standard of moral excellence will drive everything else. We strive to build upon our faith with the highest moral excellence and integrity. Let's continue. The third rung is the allegiance attribute of knowledge, and this is the allegiance of our intellect. The fourth rung is the allegiance attribute of self control, the allegiance of our passions. So now let's put this together. Moral excellence built on faith keeps our knowledge from being tainted by the agendas and opinions of our world. Knowing God is true knowledge. And this knowledge forms what the pivot point of Christian self control should look like. Here we begin to build a genuine Christlike character. Continuing the fifth rung is the allegiance attribute of perseverance, and that's the allegiance of our energy. The sixth Rung is the allegiance attribute of godliness, and that's the allegiance of our character. So put this together. Perseverance is the continual reapplying of our discipleship decisions. It is consciously staying the course of bearing the weight of our assigned burdens. Godliness is the payoff of perseverance as it drives us to fight our old selves. We, when we are godly, our very character is always seeking God. All right, Julie, what's next?
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C
Let's continue with two Peter 1, verse 7. And in your godliness, brotherly kindness.
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B
The seventh rung of this Christian character ladder that the apostle is showing us is the allegiance attribute of brotherly kindness. This is the allegiance of. Of our relationships.
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C
So brotherly kindness. And in English, it's translated also as brotherly love or brotherly affection. That's the Greek word. Philadelphia. We have a city here in the United States called Philadelphia. And in the ancient Greek world, Philadelphia referred exclusively to the bond between blood relatives. It was a tight, loyal family devotion. It's that instinctive loyalty that siblings show when they protect and support each other. They share their burdens. They maintain family honor. It has this sense of deep loyalty within a household. It's the kind of affection that is expected, and it's not optional.
- [04:23]
B
It is that family affection that you're talking about, and it's there. You just have to have it. It's an expectation. So we've been asking this question throughout this whole series. Why is one rung coming after the previous rung? So why is this brotherly love the next quality after godliness? We're going to answer this question as we go, and that helps us as we go, and that helps us to unfold its importance and its interlocking relationship with the previous rung. And it'll show us its relationship to the next rung. Let's get down into this. Now, brotherly love is actually built upon a more foundational kind of love as an integral part of processing a learning how to truly love all. And that's what this is all leading to, is how to truly love all, no matter who they are. That'll be coming up later, but we're going to briefly examine at this moment three specific variations of love that can flourish in the give and take of daily life. And these are going to be important to help us put brotherly love in its perspective. It's one of those pieces, but it also is going to help us understand what the next rung is. And that's agape, the Greek word agape love, which is More of a selfless, unbiased love. So this is really as important as this is. This is an introduction for something even bigger.
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C
Now, when it comes to the word love, the English language is surprisingly imprecise because we use the same generic word to say, I love my husband and I love chocolate, both of which are true. Even modern Greek has simplified these categories of love. So we're losing some of this beautiful nuance. Ancient Greek gives us multiple words, each one capturing a different texture of love, like affection, friendship, loyalty, family, devotion, and sacrificial commitment.
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B
Let's get started and put these all in order. Think of the first kind of love, the most basic one that we're starting as a small circle. And what we're going to see is there's going to be bigger circles coming into play and building upon that. So this small circle is the affection between spouses, parents to children, children to parents. This inner circle is the most basic and most instinctive of love, as you were describing, according to the Greek language. So let's take a look at an example of this. In Titus, chapter 2, verses 3 to 4.
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C
The elder women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands and to love their children. So these are two different Greek words and meanings that we translate into English,
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B
all as love, but it's very specific. Love their husbands and love their children. And the interesting thing is in the preaching of the Gospel, you're preaching the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles from people, all kinds of different circumstances and circles. And the message is, don't lose this basic instinct. Don't lose it. You want to build upon it. And that's an important baseline for us to begin with. Okay, so we've got that inner circle. Now the circle expands to the word that we are talking about, this Philadelphia love.
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C
So we look at Romans 12:10, the English standard Version. Love one another with brotherly affection. And that brotherly affection is Philadelphia.
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B
Very simple verse. It says to love one another with Philadelphia love. And this is an expectation, not an option. All right? This is not, if you feel like it, apply brotherly love. This is what the Apostle Paul is saying. This is an expectation. We're going to come back to this verse in a little bit. Another verse that puts this on the table for us is Hebrews, chapter 13. Let's look at verses 1 and 3.
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C
Let brotherly love continue. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them. And those who are ill treated, since you yourselves are in the body.
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B
So it Gives you the sense of you're connected. If someone is in prison for their faith, especially, you want to be connected to them. You want to have that even if they're not related to you. So this is an important focus on this application of brotherly love. We're going to come back to that in a big way. Let's go a little bit further. Next, the circle. The circle expands from the relationships which are natural or forged by common ground into relationships of no previous commonality. So as we go through this, we're seeing that the Scriptures are showing us all the parts and how each of them is so important. This next level is love expressed without previous ties or obligations from the one who expresses it. So the circle expands to a love that has no previous tie.
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C
Right. So this is actually a very large circle. The Greek word here is philanthropia, and that'll look familiar to you. It's the basis of our modern word, philanthropy. So this is a love for mankind. It's kindness, benevolence, loving people simply because they are fellow human beings.
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B
Before we get to its application in the New Testament, let's just look at one verse from the Old Testament that actually opens the door to this in a very, very interesting way. Leviticus 19:34.
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C
A stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself. For you are aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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God is telling Israel that when there are strangers abiding in your land, don't do what was done to you. You treat them, you love them as yourselves. Even if you have no commonality that gives a basis for us to take that and look in the New Testament and see how Jesus, in his example of life and how God himself shows us this kind of love. Now, it's interesting. This word philanthropia is only used twice in the New Testament. Okay? The first time the word appears is when the apostle Paul and his companions were shipwrecked after a severe storm. Acts 28, verses 1 to 2.
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C
Now, when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness. And that word kindness is this word for love. For they kindled a fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. So these natives didn't know Paul or his companions, but they showed basic human kindness.
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B
And that's a big thing, to be able to show that human kindness to those who just are in need. And you can just see the instinctive. I don't know you, I don't know where you're from, but here, let me help you. That's the first time that the word is used. So it shows that sense of one human being toward another. The next time the word is used, it is coming from God himself. Let's look at Titus, chapter three, verses three to five.
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C
For we also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love towards man appeared, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. So his love towards man. Here we see God's benevolent love for all of humanity.
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B
It gives this sense of God has this philanthropia, love. And it shows in what we've been given, because we didn't have a connection. If you were not of Jewish descent, you didn't have a connection with God. And for him to give you his spirit and to call you and all of that, that gives you a sense of there's something big here. We've gone through all of these words and looked at the family relationships and the human relationships. Why? Because brotherly love actually sits in the middle of all of this. It precisely and profoundly is in the middle of all this. The apostle Peter is focusing us on brotherly love. This, we're calling it the allegiance of our relationships to help us see its grand power and to help recognize, help us to recognize the action, absolute necessity of developing it based on godliness. And this is the key, based on being given that attribute of godliness, learning to develop that godly character. The next thing is brotherly love. We've got to understand how to connect those and how important it is. So with all of this solid foundation that we've just laid for brotherly love that we've now put in place, this next scripture helps us to open the door. And we refer to this verse already. Julia, let's read Romans 12, verse 10 and add verse 11.
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C
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. So it's hard to appreciate just how radical an idea the Apostle Paul is first introducing here in Romans. With this brotherly affection or brotherly love, he's calling the Christian to live in a way that would stand out in the ancient world by extending that family, that blood relative devotion, regardless of ethnicity, economic or social boundaries. And this was revolutionary within the Culture of the day, Christians were to think of themselves as a new family united in faith rather than ancestry. So when Peter wrote our character theme texts, this ladder here in second Peter, years later, he put this rung of our ladder right after godliness and right before agape love.
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B
So essentially you're saying the Apostle Paul is the first one to bring this to our attention.
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C
Revolutionary.
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B
Yes. So where did he get the idea? Where did that come from? How did Paul say, this is really incredibly important? The answer is really simple. This is what Jesus taught. Now, he didn't use that word, but this is what he taught. Think about when he's talking to his disciples and they say, lord, teach us to pray. And he said, pray in this. Our Father who art in heaven. The relationship of God as Father, what does that make us?
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C
Oh, we're brothers, we're siblings.
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Absolutely.
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Because we're children of God. Yes.
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So Jesus is our brother and we are brothers and sisters. So Jesus is the one who, without using the Word, told us, this is your connection. Love one another as I have loved you. That's the sense that we get. And that's the importance of this. As we look at the Apostle Paul bringing this out, it's because of Jesus and his teachings. So now let's put godliness in place with this brotherly love. A godly character, Okay, A godly character opens the door to genuine brotherly love, which is built upon applying that instinctive love of family affection. And that's why we went into all those words to say it's all part of it. We've got to understand how it all works together. To see others through the eyes of brotherly love is to see them as God always intended for us to see them. Our Father, which art in heaven. We are a collective family.
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C
And thousands of years later, this is still a revolutionary idea because our culture values being self sufficient, emotionally independent, led by my truth and what makes me happy. Needing others is a weakness. Think about how we keep our relationships shallow. Our friends are through screens, conversations are text length. We can mute, block or unfollow instead of working through a conflict. Really, relationships are optional and disposable today.
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B
And that completely misses the point of having this brotherly love. So we've got to begin to ask ourselves, how we doing with this? So first question, what does my devotion to the brotherhood look like to those around me?
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C
That's a great question. Let's test your answer. So if I see someone struggling, am I compassionate or am I critical? Having brotherly love would mean we have Patience for those in our fellowship who are struggling with maybe anxiety or shyness or even slower spiritual growth. We're gentle towards them and we seek to help. How about this question to test it? Do I protect someone's reputation when they are not in the room? Brotherly love steps in. When conversation drifts towards criticism or gossip, it redirects the tone. Maybe it offers something kind, gives the benefit of the doubt, or reminds others that we don't know the whole story. So the absent person is treated with the same loyalty that we would treat our own family.
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B
And that's the key point in that, that whole thing. Those are very, very thought provoking questions and process to look at. The question is, do I respond as though or my literal, physical brother, am I going to run to their defense the way I would my brother? That's a really important question. And look, this is how we begin to learn to express the brotherly love, this allegiance of our relationships, the allegiance, the loyalty to God, of our relationships to one another. This is how we begin to learn to connect. And that's what brotherly love is. It is connecting. We're told it's important. We're just beginning to get into the scriptures that are showing us how important this is.
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C
So when studying for this episode, I was thinking a lot about Philadelphia. And I have one sibling, Lori, and I was thinking about her and how I walked beside her when she was going through a divorce. She was really completely blindsided by her husband's cheating. She was devastated. And the years that followed required a lot more than just a polite concern for her well being. Initially it involved sitting through hours of meetings with her lawyer, helping her organize paperwork, handling the practical things that she couldn't face. But it wasn't just logistics. It was the late night calls, the repeated stories that she needed to process, the tears, even sometimes small moments of laughter in between all the mess. But this was years, not weeks, that I called her every single morning just to help her find the strength to get through the day. Because sometimes she had multiple emotional breakdowns and she knew that she'd be able to reach out to me throughout the day. She had to claw her way back into some new kind of normal. I didn't do that out of any obligation. I did it because she's my sister. And there's a built in loyalty there. It's a protective devotion that rises up without having to be asked. She needed a steady presence. She needed someone to listen. She needed emotional and spiritual guardrails because her sense of self and her worth and her faith were diminished. And that long, sustained commitment, that instinctive family level devotion is exactly what Peter's talking about. He's saying, let that same reflex shape how you care for your brothers and sisters in Christ. It's not forced, it's not formal, it's not an obligation. It's just the natural response of someone who knows, this is my family and I'm committed to you.
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You're my sister. What else would I do?
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Right? Right.
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Okay, it's that. It's that simple. What else would I do? Of course I'm here. Of course I'm calling again for the umpteenth time because you're my sister. That's a very important description of what brotherly love is and how it unfolds for us. Ideally, I. Our brotherly love, that kind of response to the brotherhood, our brotherly love should be a given. It should be a go to basis for our communication. Now we have to look at that and say, okay, how are we doing with that? Let's go to another scripture because it helps us to expand our understanding first. Thessalonians, 4, 9, 11.
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C
Now, as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love. That's agape. Love one another. For indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you.
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B
I love this verse because he says, now, as to love of the brethren, you have no need that anyone write to you. You know this. You have been given this gift, essentially this command, and you have embraced it. And then he's saying, I know you do this well, but I want you to do it even better. I want you to be even more engaged in the building up and the helping of others. Let's go to a question. How often do we think about what we can do to express this brotherly love to one another? How often do we think about it?
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C
Yeah. And this is about really actively looking for opportunities. So let's test your question.
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You're testing a lot here.
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C
When I see a needle, do I quietly step in or quietly step away because somebody else will do it? See, brotherly love notices when someone is overwhelmed. Maybe they're caring for aging parents or they're juggling work and kids, or they're dealing with illness. They quietly step in with help. They drop off a meal. You Might run an errand, send an encouraging note. Here's another question. Am I making others feel welcomed and valued in spiritual settings? And this is something I think our Jonathan does exceptionally well. Brotherly love offers spiritual encouragement. They're listening, they're sharing scripture or simply sitting with somebody so they're not alone. It also honors our leaders and the others in our congregation by showing up prepared, be ready to contribute and to bless others. Not only just to show up, to receive all that blessing.
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B
So when you look at this, there's a lot to process in terms of, well, okay, how am I expressing it? There's a lot of ways that we can express it, and many of them are subtle and don't need to be advertised to the world. It's just being their brother or being their sister. Just like in your experience with your own sister. Do we ever. Do we ever minimize the power and importance of this brotherly love? Do we ever make it smaller than it really is supposed to be?
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C
Yeah, it can really be underestimated. And let's test that. Am I ever jealous of someone else's blessing when my own prayers remain unanswered? See, brotherly love isn't going to ask, why them and not me? It will reframe it and say, well, look what God can do. We thank God for the good he's done for them because we have to remember someone else's blessing is not our loss. We give thanks for at least one good thing in that moment so that we don't get stuck in that comparison. And I think we can do that really easily. We have to be very careful about this. How about this question? Do I fellowship at church or in a spiritual setting? Only with those I like and get along with. So brotherly love is going to look, like we said before, for those sitting alone, and it's going to welcome them in. But we might choose one person we wouldn't normally gravitate to. Have a brief, warm conversation with them. Just brief, just a little bit. Just ask a few questions or maybe sit down. Something that's outside our comfort zone.
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B
Okay. There's a lot to think about, about the application of something that would have been natural in its normal use and saying, well, now you're mixed in with all of these people that you may not have actually chosen to be mixed in with, and you're supposed to be the same way. So we really want to understand. The Apostle Peter is saying to us, focus on how you execute this in your daily life. How well do I recheck and rebalance the natural give and take of life. Okay, how well am I examining things and saying what's going on? How well do I love as a brother? As a brother, you know, mess with my physical brother Dave, and you mess with me. That's just the way it is. It's because that's the way it is. Let's look at another verse on this. First Peter 3, verses 8 to 9.
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C
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. So my question here is, am I keeping score? Brotherly love gives others the same patience we hope that they give us. So when someone disappoints us, brotherly love is going to pause long enough to ask, what might they be carrying today? Why are they acting in this way or saying this? We are going to assume that they have good motives. We're going to again give them the benefit of the doubt, and we're going to refuse to keep a secret scorecard of faults or favors that they owe us.
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B
It's important. Not returning evil for evil, Reva, not checking the boxes, just being the sibling, being the brother, being the sister in the most positive way. That's the key. In the most positive way. It's called brotherly love for a reason. So it's important. The brotherly love allegiance of our relationships needs to be developed and regularly put into practice. And that's exactly what we've been saying this. This allegiance for forges a powerful and constructive connection between us as brethren. A powerful and constructive connection. That's what we're looking for.
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C
Well, here's a wonderful example. Let's let our listeners know what was happening a full two years before my sister even told me what was going on. See, I didn't know that the marriage was even in danger because she did an amazing job of being pretending. She was mortified, she was humiliated, and she was working hard to secretly fix everything before our family knew what was really going on. So the story now shifts to you, Rick.
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B
Yeah. Two years before all of the things that you were doing, your sister came up to me at one of our Bible conferences and said, hey, can I talk to you for a minute? And we sat down and talked, and she. She just spilled it, Said, this is in trouble. I don't know what to do. I. I don't want anybody to know. Please don't tell anybody. Now you know she knows I know you very well. Please don't tell my sister. Please don't tell any. I just. I don't know what to do. I don't know. So we began to work on this quietly together. Essentially every week we would talk because we live 900 miles apart. And so every week we would talk and work on things and put scriptures to it and put principles in place and talk about counseling and talk about all, all of the things that could potentially be helpful. Now all along I'm saying, you know, you really should talk to your sister. No, no, I can't, I can't, I can't. And so we just quietly worked together. And I will tell you that during that two year period, it was like, this is my kid's sister. Nobody messes with my sister. She needs somebody to talk to and some guidance. And by God's grace, here we are. And so for me, it was an experience of just entering into her turmoil, her sadness, her confusion, and giving her something solid to hold on to, if nothing more than don't worry, you're not alone. And that was a theme throughout this whole thing. And she did a remarkable job of growing through that part of the experience, eventually talking to you, and then you took it from there.
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C
That is, I think, just an amazing example of natural and spiritual, in this case, sisterly love, the brotherly love. It's a wonderful, wonderful.
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B
From both ends there was tremendous growth as a result of the efforts. It was a wonderful example to this day of the growth that she learned from these things. Let's get back and begin to put this all in order here. Now, we're not to limit our expressions of brotherly love to just our brotherhood in Christ. It's to be expressed to all humanity as well. Okay, as if it wasn't enough of a like what? And now we got to do what? Let's look at Hebrews 13:1 2.
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C
Let love of the brethren continue. But do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. This hospitality to strangers is the point we want to bring out. Remember how we talked about that philanthropia, that general love for the whole human family? Well, this hospitality, philoxenia, is a more practical Greek word meaning active hospitality towards strangers or guests. That's how we put it into practice.
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B
So the apostle is telling us, let your brotherly love continue. That's really important. And while you're doing that, don't neglect to show this hospitality to those that you don't know, because it's an important aspect. It's an important outgrowth of who you are. You have learned to brotherly love those who. Who are not naturally connected to you and take that learning and apply it to those who are strangers and just put things in order. It's a beautiful, beautiful lesson putting all of this in order, going back to the original question. So why is brotherly love the next quality after godliness? And we've talked about godliness and brotherly love together several times. We can only truly love one another in a fraternal or family way at the highest level if our characters are focused on living reverentially on a regular basis. If our characters are focused on being godly, that's the key. You can't get to this brotherly love without that godliness. Remember, perseverance drives our development of godliness, and godliness directs our self expressions of brotherly love toward ever and always being, upbuilding and productive. Godliness feeds the capacity and the ability to actually live brotherly love.
- [30:53]
C
Now, with more leisure time than ever in all of history, we're still too busy to help and we're too overwhelmed with our own problems to take on that of another Philadelphia. Love is inconvenient and it's sometimes uncomfortable. It disrupts our plans, it costs us time, it costs us energy, sometimes even money. Me, it's emotionally exhausting. How can I take on someone else's life or multiple lives when I can barely get my own together? How much is too much, Rick?
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B
Okay, well, how much is too much? Well, look, personal experience, all right? Personal experience. We have been blessed with the personal experience of entering into others lives and experiences. And when I say we, I mean my wife Trisha and myself, we have been blessed to have this experience. Now what happens is, for whatever reason, people talk to me and they're looking for a shoulder, some guidance, a sense of keeping something secret and private when it needs to be secret and private, and a sense of growing through it. Now, I end up getting involved in a lot of these things, not because I look for them, but they find me. And my wife is there while all this happens. She's not involved in those conversations, but it's part of her process as well. When I asked her about this, I said, okay, so Trish, tell me, what's your sense about all of this? The first words out of her mouth were, well, this is what I signed up for. Part of my job, part of my life's work is to support you in whatever the work is that you have. And this is part of what I am called to do. And look, it's inconvenient. There have been times in the middle of the night when the phone rings and you pick it up because there's something on the other end that needs to be addressed.
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C
But you just put your phone on, do not disturb in the middle of the night and you get some sleep. I mean, there has to be some limits. They can't call you at 2, 3, 4 in the morning.
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B
But that has happened. It doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened. And here's the question I would have for you. If you say, okay, well, why don't you just put your phone on mute or do not disturb or turn it off. Why would I take a potential opportunity that the Lord God has given to help someone and shut it down when it could be opened? It doesn't happen regularly. And when it does happen and you shake the sleep off and you talk to the individual, Julie, sometimes it's been suicidal. Why would you turn your phone off? It's a wonderful opportunity. And in dealing with these things, Trish, you know, with her, I can't even begin to describe to any of you how important it is that I have her by my side. I can't even begin to describe it because she just supports what's happening and she's always willing. And look, you know, it's inconvenient. She said, yes, sometimes it's inconvenient. And then she said, but you know what? This is our life. It can be overwhelming. These are her words. It can be overwhelming sometimes. And yet this is what we have chosen because this is a privilege. Brotherly love is a privilege. And she said to me, working, she said, rick, working with you on these things is a privilege, but you can be annoying. And, and it's because we're balancing.
- [34:16]
C
I like the honesty.
- [34:18]
B
Well, and, and it's. It's very important to put all of this together. Together. So we really need to grasp the idea that brotherly love is inconvenient. But we're called to express ourselves in it. And how are we doing with that? That's really the bottom line here. So the allegiance attribute of our relationships, this allegiance attribute of brotherly love, let's put this together. To genuinely express brotherly love for one another is to accept each other as peers. It's to step up to filling in the gaps that others may have as they fill in the gaps that we ourselves may have. It's to walk together, it's to work together, to strive together, to laugh together, to suffer together to fall down and get up together. This brotherly love allegiance of our relationships is to be the body of Christ together. And it can all be summed up in one simple scripture, 1 Corinthians 12:27 now you are Christ's body and individually members of it. That's where Brotherly love shines.
- [35:26]
C
Second Peter 1:6 to 7 and in your knowledge self control and in your self control perseverance and in your perseverance godliness and in your godliness brotherly kindness and in your brotherly kindness. And then next week we're going to talk about that final rung on the ladder in your brotherly kindness. Agape love. So we've seen here that Philadelphia is not just being nice at church. It's a serious, mature, daily expression of Christian character. And it's like this training ground coming up for this agape love we're going to talk about. And if you can't love the family of faith with loyalty and tenderness, we're not going to be able to agape love the world with Christlike sacrifice. Let's try to be just as radical as as in Peter's day.
- [36:12]
B
And really that's what it comes down to. Like you addressed earlier in this podcast, brotherly love outside of the family was radical in those days, and it's radical for a reason. Because we are the family of God through Christ. And through Christ, the blessing of the world is to come. We are to learn how to be a part of it by loving one another as brother and sister. How are we doing? Let's focus in Think about it. We love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes@christianquestions.com coming up in our next episode, what does Christian love really look like?