Love for "ALL" the Brethren

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.”

Years ago an old preacher friend of mine who came into a large inheritance, held a Bible conference in the Ohio- Kentucky area. He rented out a large number of rooms at a motel, along with their conference hall. The purpose was to get Independent Baptists to love one another. A worthy cause.

If you’re familiar with your New Testament you know this was the constant theme of its writers. But their emphasis was not on one small segment in the Body of Christ; it was all-encompassing. It included those who did not cross their t’s and dot their i’s the way they did. Their love ran over.

You do not have to agree with a person to love him or her. Insecure saints are fearful to show love toward those with whom they differ, afraid some might think they’re in agreement with them. This sort suffer from the fear of man. They are led by the flesh, certainly not by His Spirit.

We’re commanded to love our brethren, as well as God. A command has to do with the will. You “will” to love it doesn’t have anything to do with your feelings, that’s a by-product; they may or may not be involved. Reading the little book of 1 John, occasionally, would help us along these lines.

John Newton, in the book, “Letters of John Newton,” puts what I have been trying to get across better than anyone I have ever read, “In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now.”