John 13:35 (AMP)
“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
Christ walked in love! In fact he summed the law well and said it is about loving God and Loving your neighbor as yourself. Loving one another is not a suggestion but a command that we have been given in the bible. Not only did Jesus command us to love another, he told us that the character of love would be the one thing that would make the world to take note that we are his disciples.
As they say, love is the same in every language. Love can be seen, it cannot be hidden, love is demonstrated and not just said. How we interact with one another demonstrates if we love each other or not.
Not only are we to love those who are like minded as we are, we are told to love our enemies as well and to do good to them that persecute us. This one is hard for many of us, the easier thing would be to call down the fire of God from heaven to come down and consume our enemies. Jesus demonstrates to us how to love our enemies by praying to God to forgive those who were crucifying him for they did not know what they were doing.
That seems like a pretty tall order especially in today’s society where most people think only about themselves and how they can move forward no matter who they have to step on to get there. Even with believers we have become a generation that keeps chasing after the blessing making our lives and even prayers all about us, we have practically no time for others.
A young man had a family that moved to the other side of town but the interesting thing is that he would cross the city every Sunday just to attend church. One day a neighbor asked him why he crossed the city just to attend church and yet there was a church in the neighborhood they had moved him. His response was simple, he said “I cross the city every Sunday to go to the church I go to because they sure do know how to love people down there!”
Let us Love one another!
God loves you unconditionally and nothing can separate you from his love for you through Jesus Christ. How does knowing that make you feel? We are commanded to love one another, what can we do to make this more practical in our churches? Do you have enemies or people you don’t like? When was the last time you prayed for them? Take the challenge and pray for them today.
