LOVE REVEALS
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” —John 13:34-35
Spend time with a person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a year and you will know what that person stands for, their likes, dislikes etc. So it is with a person’s vocation. Follow them around long enough and you will know what it is they do. People can claim to be this or that, but when you spend time with them, you will really come to know who they truly are.
So, who are you? If someone was with us 24/7 for a year, who would they say we are? What would they say about our character? Are we truly loving (I Corinthians 13)?
According to the verses above everyone should know that we are the Lord’s disciples by the way we have love for others in the church, the body of Christ. Is this the case? First, what is love? Yes, it can include feelings, but it is first a commitment to the best interests of the other person. Is this how we treat others in the body of Christ? Are we truly looking out for their best interests or just our own? Philippians 2:3-4 tells us “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Is this how you and I live and love?
When Lazarus died, Jesus wept and the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (John 11:36). When genuine love is shown toward others, people will take notice. So, I have to ask, as an individual am I known for loving others, being committed to them because of my love for the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I love other believers at the local church I am part of? Do I love those I am serving? Those following Jesus will be known that they truly are His disciples if they truly have love each other. Is this the case with you and me? May it be so!
Dear Father, help me to love as You desire me to. Oh, that others would know that I truly love the Lord Jesus Christ by the way I love others!