Making it Personal
This afternoon we will look at two phrases in the middle of verse 10, brotherly kindness and fellowship. The first is brotherly love, Philadelphia. How is this different than preferring one another over ourselves? When we have compassion and we prefer one another, it has to do more with the reason and the command of love. When we have brotherly love with compassion, it has to do with our attitude. We are to be kind as well as compassionate. It is one thing to put others first but it is another thing to do it with the right attitude. Remember, obedience is not just doing what we are asked to do, but doing it with the right attitude.
Then we move on to fellowship. This word does carry with it the idea of being in a ship together. However, it means a little more than that. It means participating and contributing to each other.
With this in mind, how does this affect our fellowship with God? God wants to fellowship with us and participate with and contribute to us. He wants to be active in our lives and He wants us to be active in His life.
This also should affect our fellowship with each other. We are not to merely see each other on Sunday and then go home, we are to participate and contribute to each other. Early in the New Testament, they went from house to house eating and contributing to each other daily in the Word. So, will you and I have brotherly love and fellowship this week, or will we put ourselves first?