(4th entry from Grace Park Family Devotional Guide)
John 13:34-35
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-7
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Devotional
How do you know a dog is a dog? Well, it’s usually furry. It walks on all fours. It drools. It barks. It chases sticks and its own tail. And, it hates cats. How do you know a tree is a tree? Well, it doesn’t bark, but it has bark. It has leaves on it. It grows out of the ground. It’s usually taller than the other plants. And, it may have a tire swing attached to it. So, we understand how to know a dog is a dog and a tree is a tree, but how do we know a follower of Jesus is a follower of Jesus? Well, in our John 13 passage Jesus tells us. You know a follower of Jesus is a follower of Jesus by how they love others.
How can followers of Jesus love all others? Jesus says we can because Jesus loves us, and we are to love others with that same love. And you know why else? Because Jesus loves all others.
Not only are we commanded by Jesus to love others, but Jesus says that the way we love others is how the world knows that we are His disciples…followers of Christ. The evidence or fruit of our salvation is in how we love. If we are truly followers of Jesus we will love others because Jesus loves us and them. We will love our friends, neighbors, parents, siblings, enemies, strangers, bad people, and good people.
If we are followers of Jesus, we will love ALL people, because we love God and God loves them. God loves them and us so much that He came and died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve. When we love all others, it is not only how the world knows that we are followers of Jesus, but it is how the world sees the love that God has for them.
So, let us love.
Discussion Questions
-1 Corinthians 13 tells us what love is. Based off this passage, how well do you love all others?
-Based off how you love all others, would the world know that you are a Christian?
-Talk for a little bit about all the ways that God loves you.
Jacob Haywood 