Introduction
Are you growing tired in the race of following Jesus, and has your love for God’s people begun to cool or turn jaded? The central teaching of Hebrews 13:1–3 is that endurance in the Christian life is renewed by returning to what is most fundamental: loving God and letting that love overflow into steady, practical love for His people. Hebrews has spent twelve chapters giving us a “feast of theology”, Christ is better, higher, and more worthy than anything else we could cling to. Then Hebrews 13 turns and says, “Now live like that.” And it begins in the most basic, most necessary place: love. It may sound like Christianity 101, but it’s also the “reset” that addresses most of what breaks down in our discipleship. Like unplugging something and plugging it back in, love is often the simple obedience that restores spiritual life where we’ve become frustrated, exhausted, or stuck. Let’s read the passage:
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.” (Hebrews 13:1–3)
Main Points
Are you growing tired in the race of following Jesus, and has your love for God’s people begun to cool or turn jaded? The central teaching of Hebrews 13:1–3 is that endurance in the Christian life is renewed by returning to what is most fundamental: loving God and letting that love overflow into steady, practical love for His people.
Hebrews has spent twelve chapters giving us a “feast of theology”, Christ is better, higher, and more worthy than anything else we could cling to. Then Hebrews 13 turns and says, “Now live like that.” And it begins in the most basic, most necessary place: love. It may sound like Christianity 101, but it’s also the “reset” that addresses most of what breaks down in our discipleship. Like unplugging something and plugging it back in, love is often the simple obedience that restores spiritual life where we’ve become frustrated, exhausted, or stuck.
Let’s read the passage:
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.” (Hebrews 13:1–3)
Brotherly Love Is Our New Nature
When Hebrews says, “Let brotherly love continue,” it isn’t talking to a tiny group with a rare spiritual gift. It is describing what is true of every believer. If you belong to Jesus, you have been born again into a new family, and love for that family is part of your new identity.
That’s why this first command is deeply theological, not merely motivational. The author can say “continue” because something has already begun. In Christ, God has given you a real love for the brethren, His people.
Scripture says this is one of the clearest marks of genuine conversion:
- “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.” (1 John 3:14)
- Paul thanks God for churches because he hears of “your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints.” (Colossians 1:3–4)
So I want to disciple you gently but directly here: if you want a strong indicator that God has truly brought you from death to life, don’t start by staring at your weaknesses or accusing yourself because you still feel the fight with sin. Start by asking: Has God given me love for His people? Do I desire the church, not just the event, but the people?
Love Guards Confidence During Weariness
Hebrews is written to help exhausted believers endure. Along the way, when suffering rises and strength drops, many of us begin to ask, Am I even saved? Have I drifted too far?
And in that moment, our flesh and the enemy love to use the wrong measurements:
- “You still struggle with sin, so God must be done with you.”
- “Your body is weak, your health is depleted, so maybe God is punishing you.”
- “You’re discouraged, so you must not be real.”
But Hebrews and 1 John point us back to a better anchor: the regenerating grace of God produces love for the brethren. Not perfection. Not constant emotional highs. Love.
Yes, we fight sin. Yes, sanctification is real and ongoing. And yes, suffering in the body is part of this age. But one of the ways God strengthens your assurance and keeps you in the race is by reminding you: You love Christ’s people because Christ has made you alive.
Jadedness Toward the Church Is Dangerous
One of the great spiritual pressures of our time is a subtle lie: “I still love God… I just can’t stand the church.” It sounds mature or discerning, but it’s often the beginning of losing endurance.
People will fail you. Leaders will disappoint you. Churches will sometimes function imperfectly. But Hebrews is not giving optional advice here, it’s prescribing a pathway to perseverance: “Let brotherly love continue.”
I’ve seen (and you’ve probably felt) that when love for the brethren fades, isolation grows. When isolation grows, cynicism hardens. When cynicism hardens, quitting starts to sound reasonable. That’s why this is not a small issue, it is deeply connected to finishing the race.
So I’m urging you as someone who cares for your soul: don’t nurse a detached spirituality that tries to keep Jesus while pushing away His people. Ask the Lord to restore your love for the church, not as an institution you consume, but as a family you belong to.
Renew Love Through 1 Corinthians 13
God doesn’t leave “love” as a vague idea. He defines it for us, and one of the clearest “reset passages” is 1 Corinthians 13, written not primarily for weddings, but for a struggling church that needed to learn how to live together again.
Hear it as your way forward when relationships strain:
- Love suffers long and is kind.
- Love does not envy… is not puffed up… does not behave rudely… does not seek its own… is not provoked… thinks no evil.
- Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4–7)
If you want something practical to do this week: take one strained relationship in the church (or one attitude you’ve allowed toward “those people”) and hold it up to that passage. Ask:
- Where am I seeking my own?
- Where am I keeping a record of wrongs?
- Where do I need to be kind, patient, and hopeful again?
This is not about ignoring sin or pretending pain doesn’t exist. It’s about returning to the Spirit-empowered posture that keeps Christians moving forward together.
Practice Love By Welcoming Strangers
Hebrews immediately turns love into action:
“Do not forget to entertain strangers…” (Hebrews 13:2)
This is hospitality, not merely socializing with friends, but opening your life to people outside your immediate circle. In the early church, traveling believers and outsiders often depended on Christians for lodging, food, safety, and welcome.
And then comes the stunning motivation:
“…for by doing so some have unwittingly entertained angels.”
This echoes Old Testament scenes like Abraham welcoming visitors (Genesis 18) and Lot receiving messengers (Genesis 19). The point isn’t to turn hospitality into superstition; it’s to make it weighty. You don’t know who God is sending into your path. You don’t know what mission of mercy or message of providence may be attached to the “stranger” you’re tempted to overlook.
So here’s a discipleship assignment you can actually obey:
- Invite someone you don’t know well into a real conversation.
- Make room at your table.
- Treat interruptions as providence.
- Welcome the outsider, the new believer, the visitor, the awkward person, the needy person.
Hospitality is one of the simplest, strongest ways brotherly love continues.
Remember the Suffering As One Body
The third command deepens love even further:
“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them… those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.” (Hebrews 13:3)
This is not pity from a distance. This is identification. “As if chained with them.” Why? Because we share the same fragile humanity, “you yourselves are in the body.” In other words: Don’t forget that you are not invincible, and you are not separate.
Love continues when we refuse to let suffering isolate people:
- We pray for them by name.
- We show up.
- We advocate.
- We give.
- We write, visit, support families, carry burdens, and endure with those who endure.
This is how the church becomes a living demonstration of Jesus’ compassion, especially toward the afflicted and mistreated.
Conclusion
Hebrews 13 begins the practical life of discipleship with what is most foundational: continue in brotherly love. That love is not a bonus feature for advanced Christians; it is a sign of spiritual life, a guardrail for endurance, and a cure for the jaded isolation that tempts many believers.
And it isn’t abstract. It becomes visible when we:
- return to Christlike love defined by 1 Corinthians 13,
- practice hospitality toward strangers,
- and remember the suffering as if we were suffering with them.
So I’m calling you back to the “reset” that often heals most of what’s breaking down: love God, and love His people, again, and again, and again, until the end.
Father, thank You for saving us by Your grace and bringing us from death to life through Jesus Christ. Stir in us the kind of love that only Your Spirit can produce, love for You and love for the brethren. Forgive us for cynicism, isolation, and the ways we’ve withheld our hearts from Your people. Teach us to let brotherly love continue through patience, kindness, hospitality, and faithful care for the suffering and mistreated. Strengthen us to endure the race together, fixing our eyes on Christ, until we finish with joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Hebrews 13 begins the practical life of discipleship with what is most foundational: continue in brotherly love. That love is not a bonus feature for advanced Christians; it is a sign of spiritual life, a guardrail for endurance, and a cure for the jaded isolation that tempts many believers.
And it isn’t abstract. It becomes visible when we:
- return to Christlike love defined by 1 Corinthians 13,
- practice hospitality toward strangers,
- and remember the suffering as if we were suffering with them.
So I’m calling you back to the “reset” that often heals most of what’s breaking down: love God, and love His people, again, and again, and again, until the end.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for saving us by Your grace and bringing us from death to life through Jesus Christ. Stir in us the kind of love that only Your Spirit can produce, love for You and love for the brethren. Forgive us for cynicism, isolation, and the ways we’ve withheld our hearts from Your people. Teach us to let brotherly love continue through patience, kindness, hospitality, and faithful care for the suffering and mistreated. Strengthen us to endure the race together, fixing our eyes on Christ, until we finish with joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.