We can't wait until they deserve our love

Bonhoeffer- 'The member of the Body of Christ has been delivered from the world and called out of it. He must give the world a visible proof of his calling, not only by sharing in the Church's worship and discipline, but also through the new fellowship of brotherly living. If the world despises one of the brethren, the Christian will love and serve him. If the world does him violence, the Christian will succor and comfort him. If the world dishonors and insults him, the Christian will sacrifice his own honor to cover his brother's shame. Where the world seeks gain, the Christian will renounce it. Where the world exploits, he will dispossess himself, and where the world oppresses, he will stoop down and raise up the oppressed. If the world refuses justice, the Christian will pursue mercy, and if the world takes refuge in lies, he will open his mouth for the dumb, and bear testimony to the truth. For the sake of the brother, be he Jew or Greek, bond or free, strong or weak, noble or base, he will renounce all fellowship with the world. For the Christian serves the fellowship of the Body of Christ, and he cannot hide it from the world. He is called out of the world to follow Christ.'

My thoughts-

'Brotherly living'.  Are we living brotherly?

Please read the lyrics to the song- Hold Us Together- by Matt Maher

"Hold Us Together"

It don't have a job, don't pay your bills
Won't buy you a home in Beverly Hills
Won't fix your life in five easy steps
Ain't the law of the land or the government?
But it's all you need

And love will hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll be my brother's keeper
So the whole world would know that we're not alone

It's waiting for you knocking at your door
In the moment of truth when your heart hits the floor
And you're on your knees

And love will hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll be my brother's keeper
So the whole world would know that we're not alone

This is the first day of the rest of your life
This is the first day of the rest of your life
'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright

This is the first day of the rest of your life
This is the first day of the rest of your life
'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright

Love will hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll be my brother's keeper
So the whole world would know that we're not alone

Pasted from

I was reminded of this song when I read the words 'brotherly love' .  The lyrics- 'I'll be my brother's keeper' particularly struck home with me.  Are we are brother's keeper? Cain insinuated to God that He wasn't his brother's keeper.

Gen_4:9  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

We ARE our brother's keeper! We are! We should be! And our brothers are every other human being- from what people would call the worse sort of human being to the best. Our humanity alone gives us this and Christ alone gives us the love we have towards those who are just like us. I say just like us because underneath all the superficial bits we all have the same basic needs. The most hardened criminal who claims to not even want the first inkling of love from any one has allowed Satan to affect him so that he truly believes that what he is saying is truth.  But human beings were created to love and be loved. Satan wants to destroy love and will use everything he can to do just that. We know that our Savior would have us love as He loves and that means loving the unlovable because WE are unlovable aren't we? Seriously.  We can NEVER be GOOD enough to deserve love, it must be a gift that is given to us undeservedly and THAT is exactly how we are to love others, all others! We aren't to wait for them to deserve it, if we do that, then we will deserve the same and we will not be God's!  We will never deserve forgiveness, we will never deserve the love of God.  All by His grace we are given His forgiveness, His love.

So yes, we are our brothers' keepers. We are to let the LOVE of God hold us together, we are to help each other weather all of life's storms.  We are not alone in Christ.  Our love for others must be a real, visible love, not something we mouth in our prayers or tell others about, it must be a living active love for others.

All by the LOVE of God!