Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.  1st Timothy 5:1-2  NIV

The young girl was visiting family at her grandmother´s village in Spain.  She was walking around the empty streets when she came across an elderly lady.  This woman was a widow.  She was dressed in black.  The girl recognized her instantly.  Although the woman was within a couple of years from turning 100, she still lived alone.  The old woman was going for a walk, but she was sad.  A sister of hers had died recently.  As the young girl greeted the elderly lady, the woman could not hold back her tears.  So the young girl walked with her arm around her, comforting her gently.  Are we always careful about the way we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ?

In our Christian faith, we become one with others in the great family of God.  It does not matter who the other person is, if we belong to the Lord, all other human beings should sense our love and care for them.  Shall we pray today that those we come into contact with will sense God´s love through the way we care for them?  Could we ask that our hearts will embrace all God´s children everywhere?  Shall we ask for help in making them feel as if they were our sisters, mothers, brothers, and our fathers as well?

Dear Lord,

Let Your love enter us and pour out unto others.  Help us always to build up and care for those around us as a family, drawing them deeper into Your arms, we pray!

Amen