Brotherly love

Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. – 1 Samuel 18.1-4

David and Jonathan are one of the great pictures friends not only in the Bible, but in all of history and literature. Their love for each other is an example of what true brotherly love is all about.

Sadly, our culture has cheapened the word ‘love.’ We have corrupted what it means to love. A lot of folks have seems to have the idea that ‘love’ only means ‘eros’ and think that if two men love each other it suggests that they are gay. Some even say that Jonathan and David were gay because their love for each other, ‘exceeded the love for women,’ and was just like the ‘love for their own souls.’

But I don’t sense that at all here. I know what brotherly love is like. I have men that I love deeply and would do anything for. Love does not have to mean a physical relationship. It does not mean a marriage or marriage like relationship. Sometimes love is just love.

I think about the men I love in this way. I have men I would do anything for and would do anything for me. The older I get the more I find myself freer to tell my friends that I love them.

The author of Hebrews wrote ‘let brotherly love’ continue. We ought to be able to say ‘I love you’ to our brethren without any shame or being misinterpreted.

‘Love is of God.’ Let us as believers be free to love without fear.