Brotherly Love
Over the years I have run into people, even Christians, who have a very flawed understanding of relationships and brotherly love. I have actually heard Christians say, "If you scratch my back, I will scratch yours." It made my stomach sick to hear one of our deacons at my first pastorate say that in front of other people. That understanding of love is totally unbiblical and wrong in every way. The Lord has made that very clear to us. (Romans 12:10) We are commanded to be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. Isn't that very clear? We are not to be nice to another person because they do something nice for us. We are to love each other with brotherly love, putting the needs of the other person first. To do anything less is sin. When we know a person, whether we have a close relationship or not, we are to be affectionate toward them. It is not talking about a physical affection. It is talking about caring for the...