In many parts of the Christian community, the level of relationship as a 'family' is sadly missing. It is unfortunate that people attend church week after week and hardly know the people they regularly sit next to in the church services. Life has become so busy with natural concerns that most believers suffer from a severe deficiency of relationships with their fellow believers. His plan was and still is to have people who demonstrate His covenant nature in their relationships with one another. The apostle Paul talks about these types of covenant relationships in Romans 12:10 when he says, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." This phrase expresses the idea of a love between friends that is authentic, sincere, tender and warm. It represents two or more friends who love each other just as deeply as if they were members of the same family.
The word "preferring" means to esteem, to admire, to highly respect, to value very highly. It represents the attitude of a person who values a friend so highly that he deeply desires the very best to come to pass for his friend - even if it means that his friend is blessed at his own expense. This means there is no room for jealousy or competition where this kind of love abounds.
Do you have these kinds of relationships in the Christian community? If so, you could count yourself very blessed, for the lives of many believers are vacant of such relationships. This is all the more reason to make sure you take the time to really express to these people whom you love as family just how deeply you love them.
