Practicing righteousness, and loving your brother

Practicing righteousness, and loving your brother

S - 1 John 3:10-12 (NASB)
10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

11For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

12not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.

O - The relationship with righteousness and love of thy brother is much more related and perhaps less obvious than at first casual observance. I believe the Lord knows that without love of Him and righteousness it is impossible to love one's brother. Or juxtaposed, an unrighteous life will lead to hatred and mistreatment of one's brothers.

The definition of righteous is 1. Morally upright; without guilt or sin: a righteous parishioner. 2. In accordance with virtue or morality: a righteous judgment.

A - The application for me is to recognize that God's design and desire is for us to lead righteous lives. We as Christians are to develop the character trait of righteousness so we can live the great commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, and reach the world with the good news. This can be accomplished by growing the habits Peter suggests in 2 Peter 1:5-6 i.e. 5So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. 6Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness.

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this message, may it be sealed to my heart