Everyone Will Know
Jesus said,” By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” ( John 13:35 ). Notice he didn’t say “If yall will love only those who look like you, live like you, are shaped like you and smell like you” … he said “if you love one another.” He left no one out … not your annoying boss, your nagging wife, your no-good husband, your defiant kids, your ____neighbor, the foreigner, the obnoxious, the _______ . When we leave someone off the “gotta love em” list, we’ve adjusted Jesus’ “new command” to suit us or fit our prejudices. We don’t get to re-write God’s commands yall ! He’s God…we ain’t ! Either we love everybody or we don’t … and yeah, it’s hard at times. I’ve used this one a time or two: “I might haveta love em, but i don’t haveta like em.” And i can hear God…” Boy, you gon’ make me slap you upside your head.” Lovin’ the “unlovable” ain’t “natural” … it’s “supernatural”. If it was easy, everybody’d be doin it. By the power of God, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and abiding in Jesus Christ, we are capable of “loving” even our enemies ! You believe that !?! It’s a miracle in itself ! Placing our faith in Christ for salvation from hell ain’t the only thing He saves us from. He saves us “unto good works” ( Ephesians 2:10 )…meaning we are able to love others “unconditionally”, like Jesus does. Jesus had plenty o’ reason to say,” Y’all know what ? I’m goin back home. Yall can all go t’ hell !” … but he didn’t. When we realize we can’t pick-n-choose who we love, life’ll get a whole lot simpler … and God’ll receive the glory He so richly deserves. We love because He first loved us ( 1 John 4:19 ).