“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” John 13:35.
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and it is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrongdoing, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
These two passages of scripture are arguably the most famous verses about love. Love is a concept for Christians to live by. It’s a behavior taught and acknowledged by biblical scholars for every man, woman, and child to strive to obtain every day. Love is something we all know about and desire. But so often it seems to be the most difficult undertaking for us to practice.
As Christians, we have no excuse for not knowing what true love is. First Corinthians 13 and John 13 instruct us that the world will know that we belong to Jesus if we practice love. How often do we think of those two scriptures as one command? How often do we piece together the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ of love in our own lives? The ramifications of doing so present a clearly defined, but difficult life. If we combine 1 Corinthians 13 and John 13 together, what would our lives look like? God gives us spiritual gifts for life on earth to build up, serve, and strengthen others to recognize Christians. Will they know us by our patience? Will they know that we are Christians by our contentment, modesty, and humility? They will recognize us because we are not rude, uncivil, disrespectful, or unrefined; we seek the best for others; are slow to anger, and refuse to keep count of how many times we’ve been hurt. They will know us because evil makes us sad, and truth makes us happy. They will know us because we protect the defenseless and we do not live in suspicion of others.
They will know us by our hope. They would know us by our perseverance. This is what love looks like. These should be the marks of Christian discipleship. Often when the world hears ‘Christian,’ they do not think of love. They think patriotic. They think of rules. They think stingy—and they think we will judge them if they drink or use four-letter words. Is that fair? We have a responsibility to change what the world thinks of Christians. It’s still your responsibility to demonstrate the radical love Paul described to the Corinthians. This will help people know Jesus a little better. We can reach the world with this radical, biblical, Christ-like love. It is your responsibility and duty to love others and to love life. When we do so we can change this world and its ways forever.
