Love Your Brother

“If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
1 John 4:20-21

Here's my brother Tony - I love you!  Okay, so God isn't talking about my 'blood' brother, but all my brothers - I get it now.....
BTW, cute pic Tony!

Anyway, sometimes it is hard to love our brothers and sisters because of the behavior they display, or the way they look or think, which may be different than us.   In living my life for Christ, I must include all my brothers and sisters, but how can I reach out, what should I do, how can I show love when there are so many people in need?

I am reminded of this story.

Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.
The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.
As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"

Maybe I can't make a difference in a ton of lives, but I can try and make a difference in the lives whose paths I cross daily - and to those that are closest to me.  I can adjust my attitude and behavior to reflect God's love and not be cross or unhappy.  I can smile and let the little things go and enjoy life and the company of others.  I can give my clothes to the homeless, I can help out someone on the street by giving them a buck or two.  There is plenty I can do, and if I help just one person, if I make just one person smile than I believe I am loving my brother!