As we make our way through the virtues that Peter is laying out before us in II Peter chapter 1, we now come to brotherly kindness. This seems to be a simple one, but before you dismiss it because you think you have it conquered, hang on, and we’ll explore what Jesus has to say about it as well.
Brotherly kindness is having and showing tender affection to all our fellow Christians. All Christians have the same heavenly Father. We are all servants of the same Master. We are members of the same family bound by a blood that is more binding than the blood of our biological family. Those who remain steadfast will all inherit the same eternal home when we die, or when Jesus returns to take us home.
II Peter 1:5-7 “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
This may be a hard concept for you to understand if you come from a family with constant conflict. Where each member is out to please themselves at the cost of family unity. I think this is why so many new Christians are so shocked at the way they are treated when they become Christians. They have never experienced relationships where they were loved and accepted without there being a catch to it. They don’t know what to do with love that gives and doesn’t take. Soon they realize it is real, and they automatically gravitate to it.
A good example of this was when we ran a bus ministry in another city. We picked up many children whose parents allowed them to come simply to get rid of them for a few hours. The living conditions were terrible. The area was full of drugs, alcohol, and sexual perversion. Many of these children accepted Christ as their Savior. These children felt godly love for the first time in their lives. It wasn’t long before they begged us not to take them home. A few would whisper and ask if I could make them the last stop. They felt loved and safe with us. Many of the children are continuing to walk with Christ. These children experienced and embraced brotherly kindness. This was their new family. I am sad to say that in this particular area, none of their parents came to Christ while we were living there; however, the seeds were sown.
In John 13:34, Jesus is speaking to His disciples after their last meal together, before He would die for their sins and ours. He gives them a new command to love one another as He has loved them. Loving people of the same faith was not a new concept or command for them. In Leviticus 19:18, they were given the following command: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt:I am the LORD.”
What made this command new was the standard and the source: “As I have loved you.”Jesus’ love doesn’t wait to see if people deserve it or agree with us. It is not a love of convenience. It shows up when it is uncomfortable and sometimes costly. It is a sacrificial love. He washed the feet of the one who betrayed Him, then He died on the cross for all, even those who betray Him.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
The virtue of brotherly kindness cannot be manufactured. It must come from a surrendered life to Jesus. We love others as He has loved us because His Spirit dwells within us to help and enable us. There will always be those who are hard to love because we still have the sinful nature in us. However, when we think of how Jesus loved us and continues to love us, it should humble us into full surrender to all that He commands.
Today, seek to love as He loves. The church should be one big family that shows the world who Jesus is. In verse 35, Jesus gives us the reason we must love and show kindness to fellow believers. We are a testimony to who He is and that we are the real deal when we love one another. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
