“Let Brotherly Love Increase, But Mind Your Business!”

“Let Brotherly Love Increase, But Mind Your Business!”(I Th.4:9-12).
“Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more… Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands…”
The excercise of brotherly while minding our own business can be very possible only when each of us work, each with his own hands. The Greek word for brotherly love philadelphia used outside the New Testament referred mostly to the mutual love of children of the same father. Used in the text refers to the mutual love of believers in Christ as children of the same heavenly Father. God himself being the one who teaches us such love. “All your sons will be taught by the LORD…”(Is.54:13).
As much as we have been taught by God to love each other, there is still need for us to be urged to do so more and more. This is important because love, like food can grow cold and needs to be microwaved. Siblings who share mutual love because they are from same father still have bickerings and quibblings. But this should not tear them apart. We disagree to agree.
The Lord Jesus Christ says we should ask anything from the Father in his name and it will be given to us. We ask through prayer, but sometimes we are tempted to understand “pray without ceasing” to mean that we should spend more time in prayer and less time at work.
Some others consider menial work below their level. They idle around doing nothing – except that they start minding other people’s business. That is why we are urged, “make it your ambition to mind your own business and to work with your own hands.”
True fellowship reigns when we are less dependent on others. It is not as if we can all have in the same measure, but we can all have enough not to become pests and nuissances to others.
How we comport ourselves daily should win the respect of outsiders. There is no better way of evangelizing than that the way we do our work wins the respect of outsiders.
Dear friend, let us continue in brotherly love. But we are urged to love more and more. Mind your business by getting busy with your own hands so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and that you will not be dependent on anybody.
However, do not forget that on the day of your birth you depended on others and on the day of your death you won’t lower yourself to the grave. We need each other in brotherly love.
Prayer: Holy Spirit help me to make it my business to mind my business, work with my hands and to love more and more. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.