Oh Brother

My brother & I

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love
Romans 12:10

There is no doubt a special bond between brothers & sisters. Most anyone who has a sibling can vouch for this. I have an older brother. Right now, he & his wife live about 8 hours north of here so I don't get to see him very often. The times we do get together are always too brief but usually packed with laughter & great memories.

My mom desperately tries to take a nice 'loving' photo of the two of us when the family gathers. More often than not, my brother & I can manage to stick out our tongues before she clicks the shutter. I could make a whole album of 'tongue sticking out' brother & sister photos.

We were very close growing up being only 2 years apart. Always walked to the bus together, walked home together and spent loads of time playing outside together. We grew up on an acreage out of town so there were no other neighbourhood kids to play with, no malls to walk to, just the great outdoors, tonnes of open space, our big imaginations and eachother! Couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up. Tonnes of forts to build, trees to climb, rocks to scale, places to hide, room to hit a softball, play basketball, hockey & more.

I could fill pages & pages with childhood memories, memories that I hope I never forget. Not all perfect of course, but what family is? We did manage to have our 'brother vs sister' fights, as most children do, but through it all, I never doubted my brothers love for me. I knew that he would always be there for me & we'd be friends again after any fight. Brotherly Love is one of those 'no matter what' loves. At least I think it SHOULD be. I know there are many families who don't share this kind of love and I don't take mine for granted.

There are many references in the Bible to 'loving your brother'. Not just the ones you are related to by blood but all the 'brothers in Christ'. However, I think loving your family is the most important place to start with love. Brotherly Love is talked about a lot in the First book of John. In fact, the word love is used 26 times in this tiny book so God is really using it to get His point across about loving our brethren. I share some with you now.

"He who loves his brother abides in the light" ~ 1 John 2:10

"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? ~ 1 John 3:17

"He who loves God must love his brother also" ~ 1 John 4:21