08 30 07 Fraternal, Eternal, or Eternal Family: Bloodlines are Drawn!)

“Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, and serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.” (Romans 12:10-16 NET)


Jesus would tell us to love one another as He loves us. John tells us to greet one another with affection when we see one another and to love the brotherhood! Paul writes to the Roman Christians and us as well to be devoted to one another, honor one another, rejoice with one another, suffer with one another, pray with one another, and care for one another. He encourages us to hang out together, not just with the in crowd of saints, but the out crowd as well! No room for cliques in God’s family. God doesn’t prefer one over another, neither should we!

What we can’t do is isolate ourselves. Oh boy, the devil loves that! Get a little angry or hurt and we call the local gossip line; stay home from church a week or two; forget to pray or call on a friend. We allow the enemy to keep us from the help we need, the truth we need to hear, or the correction we need to receive. Maybe we are preventing ourselves from getting the forgiveness we seek as well. We should NEVER avoid our family in Christ. They are after all not our fraternal family, not our maternal family, but our ETERNAL FAMILY! What blood (should I say Whose blood?) runs hot through our veins?

Imagine how we grieve our DADDY when we avoid our Christian siblings! Who do we think we are? What have we become? Are we not one body, with one Lord, of one faith? The divisions make me sick at times! My prayer is that we allow the Lord to bind up wounds before it’s too late for some us to heal. True, the world needs to see a loving and caring Church, but we (on the inside) need to care for one another with genuine love so we each can feel Christ’s love as well!