by Jerry Senn
“The best neighbors I know are my two hands. They have lived on opposite sides of the street for many years, and they have never had a ‘row.’ If my left hand is hurt, my right hand directly drops all other business and rushes across the way to comfort it and help it out of its trouble. If one happens to hurt the other, the one that is hurt doesn’t get in a huff and say, ‘Here, I will not stand for that; you can’t treat me that way,’ and get in a fight. No, no, no. They are good neighbors. My two hands are members of one another. And Christians should be like that. They are members of Christ’s body. They should be as loving, forbearing, as sympathetic and helpful toward each other as are my two hands.” (Samuel Brengle)
This sounds much like Paul when he wrote to the Ephesian brothers and sisters. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 4:30–5:2).
And to the Corinthians he wrote, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12–13).
And, Peter, though early on a hostile and aggressive apostle, wrote …
“Love one another deeply from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22b).