Ouch! Hate is a very strong word. Tone it down a bit. Try: ‘disliking your brother’. Or even ‘take him or leave him’ – a feeling of mere ambivalence towards your Christian brother. Wouldn’t that be better than that awful word ‘hate’?

The trouble is – nothing less than loving our brother or sister in Christ is acceptable to God. We pat ourselves on the back and say:

“Well, I sure don’t hate him. It’s true that I don’t connect with him and yes, he only has to twitch his nose or blink an eye and I get my back up. I confess it doesn’t take much for him to get under my skin. It may be a personality thing. We get along best when we keep our distance. But, of course not …uhhh…  I don’t hate him! The word ‘hate’ sounds terrible.”

And it is terrible. Hate is an awful word. But it’s not good enough to not hate a fellow Christian. The Bible commands us to love them. Nothing less than loving that brother who bugs me is pleasing to God. Nothing less than loving that sister who grates on your nerves and annoys you is acceptable to God. Anything less than loving that person is unacceptable to God.

“Let brotherly love (philadelphia) continue.” Hebrews 13:1

Other than the name of the ancient Bible city (Philadelphia in today’s Turkey), this particular word translated ‘love’ is found six other times in the Bible: Romans 12:10, 1Thesalonians 4:9, 1Peter 1:22, 2Peter 1:7, 2 Peter 1:7 and here in Hebrews 13.

The Christians, initially receiving this Letter to the Hebrews, were doing well on the ‘love your brother’ front. They were already loving each other but the exhortation was to keep it up. Let it continue. Don’t allow anything to disrupt the love you have for each other.

You are young. If the Lord spares you, the most of your Christian life is ahead of you. Now is the time to allow these words to sink deeply into your heart. “Let brotherly love continue.” Down the road, you’ll experience disagreements with fellow Christians, You will have a little spat with someone over something. The easiest thing in the world will be to allow that tense spat to fester and grow into a sickening dislike for that Christian. You will try to mask it and to cover up your feelings by greeting them with an awkward smile – but deep down, it’s just not the same. The love is gone!

When love leaves, it never goes alone; it always takes its buddy along with it – joy. And when that happens, you’ll experience Christian bitterness and misery. Living in Christian misery is nasty. Not loving another Christian would be a brutal experience for you. Avoid it all costs.

There’s never a reason for me to not love my Christian brother or sister. Some will immediately say – “Oh yes, there is one exception. On matters relating to doctrine and truth – love must take 2nd place to truth.” Not so. Even when I fundamentally disagree with a Christian on a doctrinal matter, I am still required, by the Lord, to love that Christian.

If you haven’t already made plans to study something in your Bible this week – adopt this plan. Look up seven verses in your Bible (one for each day), write them out in your own words and ask the Lord to help you understand their importance. But don’t stop there. If there’s some Christian who has been annoying you lately, confess your sin on your knees before the Lord and renew your love towards that very individual.

Here are seven verses to study: John 13:34, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 5:2, 1Thessalonians 4:9, 1Peter 1:22, 1John 3:18, 1John 4:8.

By the way, why did Christ love you and die for you?

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay 

www.lovingchristmore.com Have you signed up for The Tabernacle 101 once-a-week-email study? 

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