Sunday, May 16 If this is how God loved us, then we are also under obligation to love one another.​—1 John 4:11.

[Áine]

Sunday, May 16

If this is how God loved us, then we are also under obligation to love one another.—1 John 4:11.

 

God’s great love for us will move us to love our brothers. (1 John 4:20, 21) We might think that love for our brothers and sisters will come naturally. After all, we worship Jehovah and strive to imitate his fine qualities. We follow the example of Jesus, whose love was so great that he gave his life in our behalf. Yet, we may at times find it difficult to obey the commandment to love one another. Euodia and Syntyche were zealous sisters who had served “side by side” with the apostle Paul. Yet, they had perhaps allowed personal differences to cause a rift between them. In his letter to the congregation where those sisters served, Paul specifically named Euodia and Syntyche and gave them pointed admonition “to be of the same mind.” (Phil. 4:2, 3) Paul felt compelled to instruct the entire congregation: “Keep doing all things free from murmuring and arguments.”—Phil. 2:14. w19.08 9 ¶6-7

[Sister Twister]

We all come together from different backgrounds , upbringings and cultures and yet when it works as it should with 'love covering everything' our brotherhood can be the most beautiful thing.

 

If we never let anything get in the way of peace with one another 'wherever it depends on us' our spiritual family will be the most important thing for keeping us focused on living now in the last days and through the GT so loving one another can mean our lives.

 

I was once told to forgive freely , apologise freely and find something to love in everyone - the sister who said this practiced this and she died a wonderful example of a life lived doing this in every aspect of her life.

[Vinnie]

What does it take to show to one another? What does it mean to have intense love for one another as 1 Pet 4:8 describes? It doesn't have to be grandiose or a showy display. Sometimes its just getting out of our comfort zone and pushing ourselves to do some work like picking up a phone and making a phone call or sitting and thinking of good words to text. Showing love is about showing how much we care about one another in a meaningful way.

 

[Elnathan]

# This reminds me that I must strive to imitate Jehovah by showing unconditional love to my brothers. God’s love is unconditional and that he loves us regardless of our imperfections. 
# So we are obligated by Jehovah’s love to have intense love for our Christian brothers, thereby proving we are true Christians.
# Love is not something we can practice only when it is convenient. Rather, to love one another is really a royal law, one that should influence all our actions.