8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,  “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil  and their lips from deceitful speech. 11 They must turn from evil and do good;   they must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

Peter continues writing sharing characteristics for born again believers and how we are to live together as a witness for the Lord.

Sympathy is a feeling as well as actions seeking to walk in the shoes of fellow Christians. It includes feeling with another in joy and in sorrow. We cannot experience joy if we are jealous. Sympathy is seeking to enter into feelings with sorrow and bear others burdens. It is also praising God together and sharing common concerns with each other. 

Snap judgments keep us from fellowshipping with others (even with differing denominations), when we concentrate on ourselves instead of others.  Wm. Barkley says "Sympathy and selfishness cannot co-exist. So long as the self is the most important thing in the world, there can be no such thing as sympathy.  Sympathy depends on the willingness to forget self, to step outside self, and to identify oneself with the pains and sorrows of others. It is only when we die to self that we can live to others.  Sympathy comes to the heart when Christ reigns within the heart.”   

To be sympathetic with one another means that we must try to understand the world of others before we judge or be critical. When one is going through difficult times, do not be quick to condemn or criticize, but rather love them and sympathize, imagine being in their shoes.

Empathy is to feel along with another and seek to understand them. We cannot do that without brotherly love, human fondness or affection.  Remember the new commandment Jesus gave to His disciples. It is the command to love one another. If a man says “I love God and hates his brother he is a liar." I was sadly disillusioned when speaking at a church where many people hated one another.      

One pastor wanted talk with me who is grieving because his church was about to split over the fact that some people like praise choruses and some prefer the traditional hymns.

I was so glad to hear one of our own older members say when we added some praise choruses to our worship services. He said, “Pastor I don't personally like it, but if it does help some people to worship, I'll support it.” Amen. That's maturity. That is of the Spirit. It is not of the Spirit to say, “If you don't do it my way that there is something wrong with you.”

Peter challenges his readers to love as brothers. Recognize fellow Christians as your new family. We are brothers and sisters together in the Lord. The call to love is more than putting up with them. It is a call to have one another's best interests in mind.

Application:  Yield to the Spirit for the Spirit lives within and promotes harmony, sympathy and brotherly love.

Prayer:  Lord, we pray for unity of all believers as You prayed in Your High Priestly prayer.