Click here to open the Video Devotional
2 Peter 1:7a
Peter says to add to godliness brotherly kindness. In seeking godliness which we have learned from The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, is the spontaneous virtue (moral excellence) that come from the indwelling Christ and reflects him, we must, in keeping with what comes from the indwelling of Christ, love God first and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34-35, 15:12).
This is a command to add brotherly kindness to our lives in Christ Jesus.
In loving our neighbor as ourselves we might ask, “but who is my neighbor?” or “how do we define ‘neighbor?’” Jesus answers this question in Luke 10:25-37 in the story of the Good Samaritan as He explains that our neighbor is anyone that we may find in need, regardless of race, religious belief, or anything else that we may try to use to separate us from one another. The point is that we are all each other’s neighbors. We should all look to the needs of one another. This is living in the godliness and brotherly kindness of Christ Jesus.
Dear LORD,
We all are in need of something pretty-much always. We turn to You in time of need and ask of Your help in solving our problems of this world, but You have given us each other in that we should help one another in times of need and do what we can for ourselves and our neighbors with the gifts that You have given us in Christ Jesus. Please help us to utilize our gifts in Christ Jesus to destroy the sinful nature of separation and unite all peoples in Christ Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.