Chapter 26—Brotherly Love (Part 2)
Only Love of Christ Can Heal—Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can heal. Only he in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree or as the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.—Education, 114 (1903).
Prepares for Every Eventuality—Everyone who truly loves God will have the spirit of Christ and a fervent love for his brethren. The more a person’s heart is in communion with God, and the more his affections are centered in Christ, the less will he be disturbed by the roughness and hardships he meets in this life.—Testimonies for the Church 5:483, 484 (1889).
Brotherhood Never Gained Through Compromise—Those who love Jesus and the souls for whom He has died will follow after the things which make for peace. But they must take care lest in their efforts to prevent discord they surrender truth, lest in warding off division they sacrifice principle. True brotherhood can never be maintained by compromising principle. As Christians approach the Christlike model and become pure in spirit and action they will feel the venom of the serpent. The opposition of the children of disobedience is excited by a Christianity that is spiritual…. That peace and harmony which are secured by mutual concessions to avoid all differences of opinion are not worthy of the name. On points of feeling between man and man, concessions should sometimes be made; but never should one iota of principle be sacrificed to obtain harmony.—The Review and Herald, January 16, 1900.
Divine Love Impartial—Christ came to this earth with a message of mercy and forgiveness. He laid the foundation for a religion by which Jew and Gentile, black and white, free and bond, are linked together in one common brotherhood, recognized as equal in the sight of God. The Saviour has a boundless love for every human being. In each one He sees capacity for improvement. With divine energy and hope He greets those for whom He has given His life.—Testimonies for the Church 7:225 (1902).
Enfolds Human Brotherhood in God’s Embrace—Sanctified love for one another is sacred. In this great work Christian love for one another—far higher, more constant, more courteous, more unselfish, than has been seen—preserves Christian tenderness, Christian benevolence, and politeness, and enfolds the human brotherhood in the embrace of God, acknowledging the dignity with which God has invested the rights of man. This dignity Christians must ever cultivate for the honor and glory of God.—Letter 10, 1897 (The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1140, 1141.)
Your Love for Souls Measures Your Love for God—The love revealed in Christ’s life of self-denial and self-sacrifice is to be seen in the lives of His followers. We are called “so to walk, even as He walked.”… It is our privilege to stand with the light of heaven upon us. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. It was no easier for Enoch to live a righteous life than it is for us at the present time. The world in his time was no more favorable to growth in grace and holiness than it is now…. We are living in the perils of the last days, and we must receive our strength from the same source. We must walk with God….
God calls upon you to put all your strength into the work. You will have to render an account for the good you might have done had you been standing in the right position. It is time you were coworkers with Christ and the heavenly angels. Will you awake? There are souls among you who need your help. Have you felt a burden to bring them to the cross? Bear in mind that just the degree of love you have for God you will reveal for your brethren, and for souls who are lost and undone, out of Christ.—The Review and Herald, January 9, 1900.
Perfect Love in the Church, the Aim of Christ—Jesus could have flashed bright beams of light on the darkest mysteries of science, but He would not spare a moment from teaching the knowledge of the science of salvation. His time, His knowledge, His faculties, His life itself, were appreciated only as the means of working out the salvation of the souls of men. O what love, what matchless love!
Contrast our tame, lifeless, half-paralyzed efforts with the work of the Lord Jesus. Listen to His words, to His prayer to the Father, “I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). What language is this! How deep, how broad, how full! The Lord Jesus desires to shed abroad His love through every member of the body, His church, that the vitality of that love may circulate through every part of the body and dwell in us as it dwells in Him. The Lord then can love fallen man as He does His own Son; and He declares that He will be satisfied with nothing less than this in our behalf.—Manuscript 11, 1892.
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/77.1265#1285
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the privilege of prayer, knowing that through the name of Your Son we may expect what we ask, because we ask according to Your will to be like Jesus. Please bless us to commit to doing right with the motive of love. Please grant us a pure, wholesome, consistent Christian life, which is obtained by daily studying Your Word, the Holy Bible, to behold and reflect the character of Jesus to each other and the world. Like Jesus, please bless us to not be conformed to this world, but to be truly transformed into the persons You would have us be that in our marriages and our families and among friends and others we might honor You in every way. Please bless us truly to contemplate the life of Jesus and to allow Your Word to develop within us that true religion, borne of love, which ennobles the mind, refines the taste, sanctifies the judgment, and makes us patient partakers of the vibrant health, purity, and holiness of Heaven. Because we ask all these in the Awesome name of Your Son, Almighty Jesus the Christ, our Savior, we say Thank You and Amen.
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DID YOU KNOW THIS…?
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;—Romans 12:10 KJV —[The WORD OF GOD—It’s the only flesh that is safe to eat (meditate on) to live forever!]
Do you feel sorrowful, disconnected—without a place to feel at home or useful? I pray this might show you the way forward. Watch…
https://www.youtube.com/live/2QB6fcwVuws?si=fsEvZU-rkI-BngfD
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NOTE: These began as daily texts to encourage my academy roommate and dear friend of nearly 50 years, until she suddenly passed March 2023. Now I continue to compile and send them to anyone who will receive them and to her family in honor of their mom. Lately, I have begun featuring consecutive chapter portions of a select Bible-based book.
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My personal prayer is that God will bless me to find ways to multiply this gift, so that we all may be encouraged to be found faithful in the sight of a Holy God, whenever Christ returns or our eyes are shut in the sleep of death.
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