This past summer I began a study of the book of Romans. This is from my journal, written on July 19th…“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…” Romans 12:10
Kindly affectionate in Greek means cherishing one’s kindred; fondness of natural relatives; fraternal toward fellow Christians. The idea repeats itself a few words later, “with brotherly love”.
So, I am to think of my fellow Christians as my family. I am to value them and esteem them so highly, and let that set the tone for how I treat them. In fact, we are all to do this to each other. If we are all esteeming and valuing each other, we are all setting examples for each other. We fill each other with value.
I wrote that much and stopped. And then I wrote:
Hard to concentrate. Today is my dad’s memorial service.
I didn’t think I had anymore to write about. I thought the verse was very clear. It didn’t seem that there was much to elaborate on. But I was frustrated, because I like to have a finished thought and an “Ah-ha! moment” at the end of my writings. At the same time, I wondered what I was doing trying to even think deeply at that particular moment. My head was so full of my dad and my heart was so full of the sadness of missing him. And then I understood just why I’d read that verse that day. The rest of the journal page says this:
This verse is so fitting for today and for my dad, because he did this every single day to everyone.
The passage in Romans goes on to say, “…not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”
Anyone who knew my dad would have to agree. All of that was who my dad was. What a particularly tender mercy from God I felt as I understood why my study of that book led me to being in those exact verses on that exact day. While I was grieving, I was (and continue to be) so thankful that God blessed me with a dad who set such a loving example for me to follow.