Biblical Building Block #24 Compassion One of Another (I Peter 3:8) PART 2

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a Bible Study Series taught at Fellowship Baptist Church, titled “Biblical Building Blocks for Strengthening Relationships.”

Biblical Building Block #24 Compassion One of Another (I Peter 3:8) PART 2

I Peter 3:8, “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”

I. Charity (I Peter 3:8c)
I Peter 3:8c, “…love as brethren...”
The words “love as brethren” simply mean ‘loving brethren’ or ‘brotherly love.’ As believers, we manifest the love of Christ by demonstrating brotherly love for one another. Love is an action word. Jesus Christ put principle into picture. Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” When we look to and we see Christ, we see true and pure love. Christ compels us to go beyond the knowledge of love and to demonstrate our love in our dealings with others. Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Jesus gave love a new standard. Grace always carries a greater responsibility than law. The law said, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). The command to love one another was new in the sense that Jesus gave it a new standard. No longer do we love each other as we love ourselves, but Jesus commanded us to, “love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Jesus Christ loved us all the way to the cross. John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.“ It is one thing to say I love you, but it is quite another to show it. God not only said, “I love you,” He demonstrated His love for us. Jesus left us with the responsibility to love one another the same way. Jesus also said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35). In our love for one another the world should see God's love for them. Our love for each other is evidence that we are His disciples.

II. Caring (I Peter 3:8d)
I Peter 3:8d, “...be pitiful...”
Peter says be pitiful. The word "pity" means to be tenderhearted; to be sensitive and affectionate toward the needs of others; to be moved with tender feelings over the pain and sufferings of others. The word pitiful carries the idea of being "good heartedness, full of pity, tenderhearted." The idea is that our heart is to be soft, sensitive and sympathetic toward the needs of others. The same word is used twelve times in the Gospels to describe the response of Christ to the suffering and heartache caused by sin. Believers must have pity for one another. We live in a world that desperately needs pity, a world of extreme suffering. So many suffer and continue to suffer without ever having their needs met. The means and resources to meet their needs exist, but so many within the world have become hardened to the sufferings of others. They bank, hoard, and build up asset after asset instead of sacrificing and reaching out to meet the needs of the world. But this is not to be true of the believer. Believers are to have pity upon the sufferings of others. Believers are to feel pity to the point that they are moved to act, moved to sacrifice and to reach out and meet the needs of the suffering. Again, note how pity leaves no room for selfishness. Pity demands that a person deny himself and help others in their desperate needs and sufferings. Note also how pity draws people together. Helping and ministering to one another binds and knits people together. Having pity (feeling) for one another and sacrificing and reaching out to help one another, unites people together. A great bond is created between the believer and those to whom he ministers.

III. Courteous (I Peter 3:8e)
I Peter 3:8e, “...be courteous.”
Peter instructs us to be courteous. We are to be courteous. The essence of courtesy is kindness and reverence toward others. This word carries the idea of being "humble minded; to be lowly in mind." Being humble means having an honest estimation of oneself before God. It is the opposite of pride. It means to offer oneself as lowly and submissive; to walk in a spirit of lowliness; to present oneself as lowly; to be of low degree and low rank; not to be highminded, proud, haughty, arrogant, or assertive. When we are humble, we realize that we all came out of the same pit and are saved by the same grace. Right thinking about what we are will produce a right relationship with others. Each of these five points deals with the greater matter of doing right by, to, and for others. It is living unto righteousness. A humble person may have a high position, power, prosperity, prominence, and much more; but he or she will carry himself or herself in a spirit of lowliness and submission. He denies himself for the sake of Christ and in order to help others. Men have always looked upon humility as a flaw or weakness. A humble man is often looked upon as a coward, a cringing, contemptible type of person, because most men fear humility. They feel humility is a sign of weakness and will make them the object of contempt and abuse and cause them to be shunned and overlooked. Because of all this, the unregenerated or carnal person ignores and shuns the teaching of Christ on humility.

Point to Ponder:

1. We should seek to live in harmony with one another.
2. We should be sympathetic.
3. We should respond by loving one another as family.
4. We should respond to one another with compassion.
5. We should respond to one another with humility.

Questions to Consider:
1. How is God calling you to help the church have harmony or the same mind?
2. Who is God calling you to show sympathy to in the body of Christ?
3. In what ways is God calling you to practice brotherly love to those in the church?
4. How is God calling you to show compassion in the church?
5. Which attitude is God calling you to work on most? How will you seek to improve it?

Thank you for reading PART 2 of Biblical Building Block #24 of this series. Please visit this website tomorrow for Biblical Building Block #25 of this series.

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