ASSIGNMENTS

1. Daily read over this material and read or sing the song.

2. Place the scripture where you will see it each day.

3. Think of how life would be different without loving brothers and sisters and the blessings they bring. Think of how life would be different if we were all loving brothers and sisters like God and Jesus want us to be.

4. Write down one way that you were loving to a fellow Christian.

5. Plan to tell the class how brotherly love has impacted your life.

DAILY BIBLE VERSES AND PRAYER THOUGHTS

MONDAY - VERSES: Matthew 10:37; John 5:20 PRAYER THOUGHT: Father, help me to love my brothers and sisters as I should, and help make their lives better as a result.

TUESDAY - VERSES: John 11:3, 35-36 PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, bless me with brothers and sisters who will love me in spite of my failings.

WEDNESDAY - VERSES: John 12:25; 15:18-19 PRAYER THOUGHT: Great King of All, help me to show love in the way I treat others everyday.

THURSDAY - VERSES: John 16:27; John 20:2 PRAYER THOUGHT: Master, help me to realize that you discipline me because you love me, and help me to accept correction from my brothers and sisters as the actions of their love for me.

FRIDAY - VERSES: John 21:15-17; 1 Corinthians 16:22 PRAYER THOUGHT: Creator, help me to recognize all human beings as being created in your image and being my brethren in that broad sense of the word, and to show them love.

SATURDAY - VERSES: Titus 3:15; Revelation 3:19 PRAYER THOUGHT: God, help me to always be thankful for the brethren who have loved me and made my life better in the past.

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

Love may not make the world go around, but it sure makes the trip worthwhile. - Bits & Pieces

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

It is no chore for me to love the whole world. My only real problem is my neighbor next door. - The Defender

SPIRITUAL HEALTH REGIMEN - WEEK 92

BROTHERLY LOVE - 5-18-14 to 5-24-14

SCRIPTURE - Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.

COMMENT - Brotherly love is not something that we can do one time like baptism, or even once a week like the Lord's Supper, instead, brotherly love must be practiced daily. It is so essential to the Christian life that John says we cannot truly love God unless we are able to love our brethren.

SONG - ANGRY WORDS

1) Angry words! O let them never From the tongue unbridled slip; May the heart's best impulse ever Check them ere they soil the lip.

CHORUS: "Love one another," thus saith the Savior; Children, obey the Father's blest command; "Love one another," thus saith the Savior; Children, obey His blest command.

2) Love is much too pure and holy, Friendship is too sacred far, For a moment's reckless folly Thus to desolate and mar.

3) Angry words are lightly spoken, Bitt'rest thoughts are rashly stirred, Brightest links of life are broken, By a single angry word.

THOUGHTS

A Great Motivator

Love reaches for the hurt and takes bold steps without self-interest. It can accomplish unbelievable things merely because it is so void of self-interest.

Some time ago, a teenager, Arthur Hinkley, lifted a 3,000 - pound tractor with his bare hands. He wasn't a weight lifter, but his friend, Lloyd Bachelder, 18, was pinned under a tractor on a farm near Rome, Maine. Hearing Lloyd scream, Arthur somehow lifted the tractor enough for Lloyd to wriggle out.

Love was the real motivation.Calvin Miller, "Rethinking Suburban Evangelism," Leadership, 1988, p. 68

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d
In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote,

"Do not waste your time bothering whether you ''love'' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

Sacrificial Love

Two weeks after the stolen steak deal, I took Helen (eight years old) and Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?"

"Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing my error, I bent down and asked her what was wrong.

She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is "Love is Action!"

She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched Sandy take my steak and say, "Love is Action!" She had watched both of us do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house and Kings Arrow Ranch. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as I finished my errands, I took Helen to the petting zoo. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.

Dad, The Family Coach by Dave Simmons, Victor Books, 1991, pp. 123-124

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

The Legend of Two Hebrew Brothers

There is a beautiful Hebrew legend of two brothers who lived side by side on adjoining lands. One was the head of a large family, the other lived alone. One night, the former lay awake and thought: "My brother lives alone, he has not the companionship of wife and children to cheer his heart as I have. While he sleeps, I will carry some of my sheaves into his field."

At the same hour, the other brother reasoned: "My brother has a large family, and his necessities are greater than mine. As he sleeps, I will put some of my sheaves on his side of the field." Thus the two brothers went out, each carrying out his purposes and each laden with sheaves – and met at the dividing line. There they embraced.

Years later, at the very place stood the Jerusalem temple, and on the very spot of their meeting stood the temple's altar.

d d d d d d d d d d d d d d

I __________ YOU LIKE A _______________

INTRODUCTION - Hebrews 13:1

L. S. - A BROTHER'S LOVE. . .

I. IS ____________. - ROMANS 12:10; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10

II. IS _____________ BEHAVIOR. - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10; 2 Peter 1:7; HEBREWS 13:1; 1 PETER 1:22-23

III. MUST BE _______. - 1 Peter 1:22-23; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:10

CONCLUSION

I LOVE YOU LIKE A BROTHER

INTRODUCTION

A. Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.

B. The term translated brotherly love is where we have gotten Philadelphia. It is used 5 times and is once translated brotherly kindness. The word phileo is used an additional 25 times without the brotherly part which just indicates a friendship.

L. S. - A BROTHER'S LOVE. . .

I. IS ACTIVE.

A. AFFECTIONATE - ROMANS 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

B. HONORING FELLOW CHRISTIANS - ROMANS 12:10

C. PREFERRING CHRISTIANS OVER OTHERS - ROMANS 12:10

D. NOT ROMANTIC OR SEXUAL - ROMANS 12:10

E. KIND - ROMANS 12:10

F. SOMETHING YOU DO - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. [10] And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

II. IS LEARNED BEHAVIOR.

A. A BASIC TEACHING FROM GOD - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. [10] And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

B. SHOULD BE ADDED TO OUR LIVES - 2 Peter 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

C. BUILDS TOWARD AGAPE LOVE - 2 PETER 1:7

D. SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9-10 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. [10] And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

E. EXAMPLE OF LOVE WAS GIVEN BY GOD - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:9

F. CAN BE HINDERED - HEBREWS 13:1

G. DOES NOT COME BY ACCIDENT - 1 PETER 1:22-23

III. MUST BE REAL.

A. UNFEIGNED, NOT FAKED - 1 Peter 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: [23] Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

B. FROM A PURE HEART - 1 PETER 1:22

C. INCLUSIVE NOT EXCLUSIVE - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:10

D. RESULTS FROM A PURE SOUL - 1 PETER 1:22

E. COMES AFTER OBEYING THE TRUTH - 1 PETER 1:22

F. NOT LIMITED TO LOCAL AREA - 1 THESSALONIANS 4:10

CONCLUSION

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.

Hebrews 13:1

Let brotherly

love continue.