“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1).
Have you ever studied the biblical account of sibling relationships?
↓ Cain murdered Abel
↓ Ishmael hated Isaac
↓ Esau despised Jacob
↓ Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery
↓ Miriam and Aaron slandered Moses
↓ David’s brothers were jealous of him
↓ Amnon raped Tamar
↓ Absalom killed Amnon
One of the most telling characteristics of Christians is their love for others in the brotherhood of Christ. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn. 13:34). Why did Jesus command all Christians to love one another regardless of one’s unloveliness? Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35).
God wants unbelievers to inspect, scrutinize and analyze your relationship with other believers. You should live so Christianly that unbelieving inspectors cannot avoid the uniqueness of your love for the people of God. Paul captures this theme in his letter to the churches in Galatia when he writes, “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10).
You should love the most unlovely of Christians even as Christ loves His church because you are an imitator of Christ (I Cor. 11:1). Christians invite the unsaved to examine true Christian love by contradicting the social order of the day in their refusal to keep account of any wrongs they suffer at the hands of their Christian brethren (I Cor. 13:5).
Unity among the saints is both good and pleasant. It is good because it is imitative of Christ, and it is pleasant due to the affect it has upon those wed to Christ. Christian love cannot be concealed because Christian love declares, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). Biblical love refuses covetous and envious comparisons.
You will remember that though Jonathan and David should have been fierce competitors, they were not, because “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself” (I Sam. 18:1). How did Jonathan’s soul manifest its unity with David’s soul? “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt” (I Sam. 18:4). Jonathan gave David all semblances of his honor and means to survive because his love was so rich.
Christians are committed to “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). God says of the early church that “the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own” (Acts 4:23). Would you describe your relationship with other Christians as a communion of the saints? Does God’s saving and sanctifying grace bind you more closely to other Christians than a common language, culture, community, political preference or skin tone?
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