Christians Love One Another, Part 4

Chuckle: "I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.."

Quote: “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.” --Mother Teresa

LOVE COMMUNICATES

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).

In parts I through 3, we saw that this "new command" from our Lord is easy to understand, but impossible to obey in our own strength, and today we see that loving the way Jesus loved is a most effective way to reach people for Christ and to enrich the lives of fellow believers. "By this all men will know you are my disciples if you love one another." Loving one another is the distinguishing mark of all genuine Christians and it communicates to the world who we are.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (I John 3:16-18 NIV).

A little church in Cincinnati, with limited resources, prayed for guidance on how to reach people for Christ. They decided just to love the people around them. They went about asking questions like, "May we mow your yard today?" "May we rake your leaves?" "May we wash your car?" They distributed cold drinks on street corners. There was no publicity about what they were doing. People began to ask them who they were and why they were being so kind. People responded to their acts of love and kindness.

There is a song The Gather's sing, "I am loved, you are loved. I can risk loving you, because the one who knows me best, loves me most." Do you have any idea how much Jesus loves and cares for you? Do you have any idea how much He wants to love your community through you? Do you realize how powerful your unconditional love can be?

"A man was known to carry a little can of oil wherever he went. If he passed through a door that squeaked, he put a drop of oil on the hinges, and if a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. So he passed through life lubricating all the creaking places, and making it a little more pleasant for those who followed after him. There is no telling how many lives we could keep from "rusting and squeaking" and how many gates we could open to happiness, if only we would carry a little oil of brotherly love and human kindness in an effort to prevent lives of fellow Christians from rusting away in sin" (See I Thessalonians 4:9).

Please remember the greatest act of love ever witnessed, and let me challenge each of us to think of at least three acts of love and kindness we can do this next week to let the love of Jesus show through us and make the life of someone else a little brighter.

Love, Jerry & Dotse