They Will Know Us By Our Love

They Will Know Us By Our Love

John 13:34-35 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

This is an excellent reminder of our calling. There are 10 commandments we are asked to follow, and yet, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Did you catch that last part? If you are doing these two great commandments, then you will be doing the rest. They all hang on to those two commandments. So, our calling is to love.

I just went to an awesome Lenten Day of Reflection on Saturday, and the theme was bringing God’s light into the darkness. Can you guess how we can do that? We can bring light into the darkness by being love to other people. This is what people are craving in the world, and they are looking in all the wrong places to find it. I believe behind every cranky, mean person is a child of God craving love. They don’t know how or where to find it, and they certainly don’t know how to ask for it.

Often we give love as we received love growing up. If we received a lot of love growing up, then we can give a lot of love. If we didn’t receive a lot of love, or if we needed to earn that love, then we might not have a lot of love to give, and people may need to earn that love. There is a saying “hurt people” hurt people, meaning if someone is hurt, they may lash out and hurt other people. They may not even know they are doing it.  They are just doing what they are taught to do. It might be subconscious. They get into a relationship and act like they witnessed it growing up and don’t realize it is hurting others.

We need to love people. Not just the ones that are easy to love, but we need to love all those we meet. I was thinking we should think of everyone we meet as our brothers and sisters in Christ. However, I am one of 11, and I know brothers and sisters don’t always like each other. So, instead, let's think of everyone we meet as a child of God. I think we all know the love one can have for their child. Or, if you don’t have a child, I bet you still know the love you have for a niece, nephew, or best friend’s child. We love our children even when we don’t like their behavior. We love them even when they aren’t being kind. This is how God feels about His children.

I wonder if we think of everyone we meet as a child of God if that will help us love them more? It may help us see them as more than just what we see on the outside. My kids can seem pretty terrible on the outside at times. Well, they did when they were younger, anyway. However, I always knew they were kind, loving children on the inside somewhere. This is true with all of God’s children too. You may look at them, and all you can see is their sin. However, inside, maybe buried deep inside, is that loving child God created. Can we look past the outside and show them love?

The verse above says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” Jesus is not asking us to love one another. He is commanding it. Are we really going to say no to that command? Are we really going to keep doing what we want to do and ignore the commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us? How did Jesus love us? He loved us unconditionally. He loved us with a self-sacrificing love. He gave it all for us.

I don’t think Jesus is asking us to give our lives for others in the same way that He did. However, there are other ways we give to others. I think even if we start small and work our way up to loving others better. What if we just started with eye contact and a smile? People are craving love and to feel seen these days. What if we just started looking at people and smiling? This shows them they are seen. This shows them that somebody noticed them. I have heard that this is especially important when you pass a homeless person on the street. So many people walk past them and don’t even look at them. They act like they don’t even see them. What if you saw them? What if you made eye contact and smiled?

The verse says that everyone will know that we are Jesus’s disciples if we have love for one another. If people saw the way you interacted with those you meet in a grocery store, those you interact with in traffic, and those who live in your house, would they know you were a disciple of Jesus? There was an episode about this verse on the Big Life Devotional with Pamela Crim, and she talked about how this verse applies to us, too. If we always talk badly about others or about ourselves, do you think people are going to want to follow Jesus? If people know we are disciples of Jesus, and yet we are always grumpy and talking about how much we hate ourselves or our bodies, then do you think they are going to want to be disciples of Christ?

If we want others to know we are disciples of Christ, then we need to love people better. We need to love one another. Sometimes it can be easier to love strangers on the street than it can be to love our family. We need to make sure we are loving everyone. Those who live in our house, those we pass on the street, those we see in the grocery store, those who cut us off in traffic. We need to figure out how to love all of those people. One thing that may make it easier is to remember they are children of God, and He loves them. He wants our help to love His children. Can we do that? Can we help Him?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to love your children; please help us. We want to love all those we meet and yet we don’t know how sometimes. It is easier to love some more than others. We struggle to love some. It seems impossible to love everyone, and yet all things are possible in you. We ask for your graces so that we can do as you command. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting some of you live on Zoom tonight. If you would like to join mentoring, you can do so on my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, or CLICK HERE. You can also come to check it out before you join. Just send me a message on Facebook or through email at [email protected], and I will get you the link. I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring 

CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emails

CLICK HERE to sign up for free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily life

CLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace