Being an Ambitious ChristianНамуна

Now About Your Love for One Another

There is an ancient Hebrew legend about two brothers who owned adjacent farms. One had a large family, while the other lived alone.

One night the older brother was thinking as he lay in bed, “My brother lives alone and doesn’t have a family to bring joy to his life. I think I’ll go bless him by taking some of my grain into his fields.”

That same night, the younger brother lay in bed thinking, “My brother has a large family, and their needs are greater than mine. I think I will secretly put some of my grain in his fields.”

As each went to bless the other, they met at the fence line, where they embraced and renewed their love for each other. The legend says that years later the Temple of Jerusalem was built on the very spot where they embraced.

This week we are going to look at a passage that challenges us to be ambitious, and the first ambition to which Paul exhorts us is brotherly love.

The Greek word Paul used is the word from which we get the first part of our English word Philadelphia. It is a brotherly love, typically used to describe the love that family members have for each other, except in the Bible, where it is used for the love that fellow Christians have for each other.

That shift in meaning is not hard to understand. The Bible teaches that when we are followers of Jesus, we are part of a large, multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-generational family. All other followers of Jesus are our brothers and sisters. Indeed we are a family!

I wonder about your love for other Christians. Are you fostering brotherly love? Do you participate in (not just attend) a local church where you know and are known by others? Do you seek to ease the burdens of other Christians facing hardships and challenges? This kind of love is an important mark of a follower of Jesus.

May your ambition be to show tangible love for other believers.