“to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:7).
As we approach the end of our list of Christian virtues from 2 Peter 1:5-7, we now come to ” brotherly kindness.” This phrase is expressed by the word philadelphia in the original language of this passage, “Philadelphia” is subsequently derived from the ancient Greek word phileo, a word that conveys a sense of approval and friendliness. (1)
Thus, we can understand this idea to refer to the familial love and affection that should exist among God’s people. However, this also means that our church families may sometimes resemble our biological or adoptive families in certain respects. While there may be occasions when our relationships within the family of God are not as harmonious as we desire, this underlying sense of “mutual affection” (NIV) must continue to guide those interactions.
The New Testament Scriptures offer several ways to convey these qualities. For instance…
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10).
“…there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25).
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3).
“…all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9).
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5).
That brings us to the final characteristic mentioned here: love. This word derives from the ancient Greek word agape and appears more than one hundred times in the New Testament Scriptures. It is also found in every New Testament book except the Gospel of Mark and the book of Acts.
In contrast to other forms of love, agape love is not based on an emotional feeling. Instead, this type of love stems from a deliberate act of the will. It is characterized by a determination to love and a commitment to act in the best interest of others, even in the absence of an emotional feeling. Because of this, agape represents the type of love that endures, even if it is not reciprocated. We’ll continue our look at this form of love (and what it represents) in our next study.
(1) G5368 phileo Thayer’s Greek Definitions https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5368/kjv/tr/0-1/
(1) G5368 phileo Thayer’s Greek Definitions https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5368/kjv/tr/0-1/