A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

                                                                                                                  John 13:34-35

We end the week with this thought from our Lord…when we love each other the world will recognize us as believers. Unlike the old covenant, with its ordinances and statutes, Jesus gives the church a new commandment…to love one another. Jesus then uses His own sacrificial love (even prior to the cross) as a standard by which we too are to love. Don’t forget that God is love. The litmus test for Christian authenticity and one’s ability to fulfill the law of God are all rooted, grounded, and centered in love. Because Jesus has loved us by providing salvation to everyone who will call on His name (Romans 10:13), we too are to love in that very same manner (1 John 4:7-11). Love is what makes Christians recognizable to the rest of the world. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, that our enemy, the accuser of the saved, would want to disrupt the church to the point that love for one another is non-existent. Not just for the purposes of seeing believers at each others throats, but also knowing that an absence of love will make it impossible for the world to recognize the church as being of God. Perhaps that’s why believers are instructed not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Bitterness, wrath, anger, slander, and malice are all works of the enemy and don’t belong in the life of a Christian (Ephesians 4:30-31). Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the fruits that come from a born again life (Galatians 5:22-23). Let’s love one another so that all mankind will know we are disciples of Jesus!