BIBLE PASSAGE:
By this all will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another.
(John 13:35)
MEDITATION:
Every individual is endowed with the potential of developing at least three
characteristics that identify them as believers.
The three are: faith, hope and love.
Faith is a conviction and confidence in something or someone.
For Christians, it is a belief that Jesus died for sinners, was
resurrected, and will return one day to take home with Him
all who believed and surrendered their lives to following Him.
Hope is an anticipation and expectation of something.
For believers, we eagerly await the return of Jesus to
take us to heaven.
Love, however, means affection and adoration.
God’s Word tells us that love is the greatest virtue
that we can have as members of God’s family.
And now these three remain: faith, hope
and love. But the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13)
There are some important by-products of the virtue of love.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does
not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps
no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
The scriptures make it clear that those who develop love will be
noticeable in the world. This is important for Christians because
it’s a trait that others (and God) expect to see in God’s disciples.
Love opens the door to conversations about the Lord and salvation.
It’s an unselfish love that’s similar to God’s love, which is a love that
expects nothing in return. Jesus demonstrated this type of love when
He washed the feet of His disciples.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began
to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel
that was wrapped around him.
(John 13:5)
He also showed the love of God when He went to the cross for sinners.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8)
When we are identified by love, others know that whatever we say
to them, is from a heart that cares about them (even if it is something
they would rather not hear). If we don’t have the virtue of love, then
our comments can be interpreted as condescending, critical, rude and
inconsiderate.
ACTION:
Questions to consider:
– How am I doing with developing an unselfish love for God and others?
– Am I becoming more patient?
– Am I developing a kindness toward others?
– Have I eliminated envy and jealousy in my attitude?
– Have I developed humility to replace any boasting?
– Have I eradicated any signs of arrogant pride?
(boasting and arrogant pride causes us to
forget that all we have is a gift from God)
– Have I stopped gossiping and harming the reputation of others?
– Do I no longer feel that everything is about me (selfishness)?
– Have I learned to control my anger?
– Do I no longer hold grudges when others have treated me unfairly?
– Have I changed my attention from sinfulness to righteousness?
– Do I have a desire to protect others from harm?
– Have I learned to trust God in all things?
– Do I have an excited anticipation about the return of Jesus?
– Have I learned to never give up on pursuing righteousness?
– Do I realize that as a Christian, I am a disciple of Jesus?
This is not an exhaustive list of changes in the Christian life,
but if there are any that we need to change, there is no better
time than right now to address them.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the love You have for me
and all mankind. Help me to develop this kind of love in my
own life so others will know that I am a member of Your family.
You have given me a list of the areas I need to focus on. Teach
me how to work on each of these so that it will create in me an
unfailing love that includes faith and hope.”
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