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Daily eMail Devotional
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I Peter 3:8-12 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. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.One of the things that throw me off in this passage is the phrase “love as brethren.” I have a brother. Growing up my brother loved me: he loved to tease me, he loved to hit me, and he loved to get me into trouble. So when the Bible says to “love as brethren”, that phrase does not bring very good connotations to my mind. Unfortunately, many Christians get along no better than my brother and I did.
Part of our problem was that, even though we were both born to the same parents, we were very different. Danny was bigger than me, more athletic, got better grades and was very popular (Now, do you see why I did not like him?) We did not like the same things, we did not think the same way, and we did not have “one mind” on much of anything. Since growing up and leaving home I have received “an hundredfold now in this time… brethren, and sisters, and mothers.” (Mark 10:30). I do not always agree with all of my Christian brethren, we do not always think alike or like the same things, but what we do have is the mind of Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)
What are the results of having the mind of Christ? Look at Philippians 2:1-4; “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 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.” This goes right along with our passage for today. Spend time meditating on what it means to be “having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”
Aloha in Christ,
Pastor Wayne
Don't Forget -
