Loving Your Brothers and Sisters Is Important — Edgar Reich

Loving One Another as Jesus Commanded

Thank you for joining me again. Would you join me in thinking about loving your brothers and sisters? I personally find it very difficult to love people. They all have different ideas. They might not agree with me, they're cantankerous at times.

And so we love our pets more than people. But this is not what scripture says. In his word, Jesus said, my command is this, love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Love as the Mark of Christian Discipleship

In John 13, Jesus said, a new command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples. If you love one another, praise God.

And I would like to send every Christian to smile school, because the joy of the Lord ought to be in you. Not being a judgmental spirit, not being downcast, not rejecting others, accept others and esteem them better than yourself.

Three Biblical Helps for Esteeming Others

And you say, well, how do I esteem others better than myself? They might be in a different class of my lifestyle. And so I'd like to give you three helps that will help you to esteem others better than yourself.

Every Person Bears the Image of God

Number one, every sister or brother is made in the image of God. In Genesis, God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. So every person you will ever meet is made in the likeness of God.

It doesn't matter his color, his status, his position, his background. We are all made in the image of God. Then the second point is that every sister or brother has a soul with a greater value than this world.

The Soul’s Value and Christ’s Sacrifice

For scripture says, what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? God sent his son Jesus to die for us. Jesus, the son of God, would not have come to die for us if our soul was worth nothing.

Our soul has a great value because Jesus died for us and we shall live forever. So when I meet you, I look at you that you are born in the image of God. Then the second point is I know that your soul has a greater value than Fort Knox, than all the gold in this world, all the oil in this world, all the diamonds in this world.

Different Gifts Within the Body of Christ

And the third point is that every sister and brother can do at least one thing better than I can. You see, God has given each one of us a different spiritual gift. And so we need not be jealous of each other because we are all part of the body of Christ and we help each other.

And what would an ear do without a foot? What would the heart do without the hand? What would the eyes do without the system that clears all of our things that need to go through our body? So beloved, we all have a task to do.

There need not be jealousy. And so these three principles will help you to esteem others better than yourself because they can do at least one thing better than yourself. And you say, well, this may be true, this may not be true.

Loving the Unlovable as Potential Christians

But if you even see a drunk person in the middle of the street, that person also can do one thing better than you. And that person is a potential Christian. So please love one another. Jesus said, what good is it if you love those that love you?

So love those that don't like you and make a difference for the Lord. The Lord bless you. Thank you.