Love

"A new command-ment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

When you read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you get the distinct feeling that the original twelve disciples did not always get along that well. That does not bother me in the least, because, if you took any twelve of your friends on an extended ministry trip (say, about 3 1/2 years) there would probably be a bit of friction before it was all said and done. Anytime you get a diverse group of people, with various backgrounds, baggage, preferences, personalities and desires, you are going to have some friction, disagreements and perhaps worse.

Jesus knew His disciples very well, and He did not want to leave them without directly giving them the ultimate challenge. "Love one another, as I have loved you." I am sure that Jesus considered the following: That the church would never survive a splintered, fighting, arguing group of Apostles; much less, take the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. Jesus needed the early Apostles to be bound together by love in order to be effective. Jesus went on to say that the love they showed to one another would be the sign that they were His disciples.

The Apostle Paul talks about love in 1 Corinthians 13: "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." Love is still the glue that holds the church together. Love is still the sign that lets the world know that we are Christ's disciples. Love is still what allows us to charge forward with the Gospel message. The Gates of Hell can not stand against the love of Christ!

Prayer: "Dear Father, You know me well and yet You love me. You also know the personalities that test the limits of my love. You love seems to know no end, and continues to express itself with patience, kindness, mercy and grace. I need to be more like You--I need to love more like You do--I need the world to look at my actions and know that You are living through me. Fill me with Your love today. May I express that love in obvious ways this day, and may I turn away from the personal pettiness that would weaken my testimony to others." Amen