and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
2 Peter 1:7
Both brotherly-kindness and love refer to the same sentiment. The difference is one of direction - brotherly-kindness is especially towards those that are of the household of faith, whereas love is towards all, including those that are outwith the family of God. With regard to the first, Matthew Henry says, 'We are children of the same Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family, travellers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance - in view of this, should we not love our brothers?'
Notice that both follow godliness. Godliness is never a solitary or selfish thing. When God fills the heart with Himself, He makes more room for others than ever before. An essential ingredient of godliness is sympathy with men. And it is significant, in this connection, to see that before godliness in Peter's list come qualities that refer to a man's attitude to himself, while after, those referring to his attitude to others - a heart of steel towards himself, and a heart of love towards others. This is a combination that appears frequently in Scripture. Christ is both the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The strength of the lion is seen in the cleansing of the temple, His tenderness and compassion in dealing with sinners and broken lives. It is important not only to see that these two qualities must combine in Christian life, but also that the tenderness flows from the strength. Tenderness is not a weak or unmanly thing, and we may not confuse it with soft sentimentality. Only the strong can be truly tender and loving, and we may gauge the 'strength' of our godliness by the measure of tenderness of spirit which our lives show forth.