“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life” (Romans 16:3-4)
Christians should be recognizable by their brotherly love. And that’s exactly what we see in Paul’s letters. He greets a lot of people, expressing his love and his concern for their well-being. He also tells how two fellow Christians, Prisca and Aquila, risked their necks for Paul’s life. So evidently they loved him as well.
A letter of Tertullian in 197 AD describes how this Christian love caught the attention of outsiders: “See, they say, how they love one another, for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.” This is exactly what Jesus wants his church to do: to love each other and so to spread God’s light in the world.
Paul’s letters make also clear that this ideal situation is not self-evident, since he writes about conflicts and strives in various churches. But our calling always is to reconcile whenever possible, to seek the best for one another, and to love each other.
Do you experience brotherly love from (and for) fellow Christians?