By This All Men Will Know That You Are My Disciples

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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” -John 13:34-35

Once I was hanging out with my friend Tara and she wanted to write something down in her Bible and asked, “David, can I borrow a pin?”

“A what?” I asked

“A pin!” she said

“Why do you need a pin?”

“For writin', duh!”

Tara is from Texas and cannot say the word “pen” to save her life. Having grown up in Texas she has never heard the word pronounced any differently, and she remains convinced that my way of saying the word “pen” is absurd and nasal. 

 

Accents are fun things. We've all got one and for the most part we don't notice them until we meet someone different from us. We usually grow up surrounded by one type of accent and when we meet a new one it is outlandish and grating. This is what it is like when folks meet disciples, it's startling and confusing. Jesus' Disciples are weird, and they're wired in the same ways Jesus is weird. Instead of looking out for their own interest they look out for others, they love freely and forgive joyfully. They repay evil with good and love their enemies, and most incredibly, they don't seem to notice they're doing it.

Challenge: Does this sound like you? Do people notice God's love in you? People will notice God in you if you're hooked into the source of love. Jesus is so radically and unconditionally in love with you that you could discover a new level of his love every day for your whole life and still not fully discovered the depth and width of his love for you. Confess to Jesus the ways you've failed to love perfectly, but don't dwell on those sins, Jesus sure won't. Instead dwell on the instant and joyful forgiveness God offers you every moment of every day.