"I hear about the love you have for all the saints," Philemon 5.
That is, love for all God's holy people, right? OK. But who's hearing about this love? Paul. Paul's hearing about it. And whose love is Paul hearing about? Philemon's. Philemon's love. Philemon's love for whom? For all his fellow believers in Christ. (That's what makes them holy, yes?). And Paul's hearing about Philemon's faith in Jesus. Invisible faith shows up in visible love. So anyway who's Philemon? He's a brother who's about to get a runaway slave back. A slave who has come to faith in Christ. So Philemon's not just getting back a runaway slave. He's getting back a brother in Christ. A saint. So what's Philemon to do? To love this new brother like he loves all the other brothers. Sky kingdom.
Today, with a brother or sister, we express faith in Jesus through the real actions of love toward each other. And, together, we give thanks that God expressed his love for us through Jesus' real actions.
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