We all have a family of some sort. Some have a birth family, of which they had no choice, which is very unloving. Some of those natural families are so dysfunctional and ungodly it is hard to love them as you should. Others are wonderful and all you could ever dream of for a family. Many have no blood relatives alive, and their friends are their family. Still, there are some that are adopted into a family. They were chosen by those adopting them to be part of that family. This family is usually full of love because they chose those that would be part of their family. However, God presents us with a new family when we accept His Son as our personal Savior. We are born by the Spirit of God into a family where God is our father and other believers are our brothers and sisters. We are commanded to love them! We did not choose them, God did. Our new family comes from all over the world. We are all different, and yet we have a common bond in Christ.
I John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
The Bible makes it clear that the evidence of our salvation, is the love we have for one another. It’s not an option. So, what do you do when there are “prickly” people in your family? What about those who are so negative you can hardly bear to be in their presence? Maybe they are condescending or arrogant. Whatever the reason, they rub us the wrong way every time we are around them. Yet, these people are in our family and God placed them there.
Peter tells us in I Peter 3:8, to have compassion for each other. We are to be courteous. We are never to return evil for evil. We are to bless them.
I Peter 3:8-9 “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4, to not think of ourselves higher than we ought to. We should not strive with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We ought to be the ones to humbly submit. If there is no sin involved in the other person’s decision, we should submit to our brethren. Is this hard to do? Absolutely! We are so full of pride and selfishness that we will do almost anything to get our way. We have convinced ourselves that our way is best, and that’s just the way it is.
Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
Ephesians 5:21 “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
We are not to contend with one another. To do so will destroy the spirituality and happiness of the body. Many churches have split because the members were selfish and unyielding. What kind of a testimony to the world is a family where selfishness is on display at every decision?
Galatians 5:13-14 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
So, what is the way we are to deal with them? We are to operate in love. Unless what they are wanting is a sin, we submit. Ultimately, we are setting ourselves aside, and seeking to love and serve others. We are proving that we have been born again by loving the brethren. (I John 3:14)
Not only have we helped the church, and kept the peace, by loving those unloving people, but we are also a testimony to those outside the church. A world full of people looking out only for themselves doesn’t understand, how people so unlike, in most ways, can truly love each other. They marvel at our love. This alone is enough to cause me to want to have a real love for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
It’s time Christians begin to be selfless and truly act as our name indicates. We are to be Christ-like, or little Christ is what our title really means. Jesus was selfless, not selfish. If all Christians acted like Christ more sinners would see the God we serve.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ”
