Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. [John 13:35 (NLT)]

Instead of wearing a cross, having a bumper sticker quoting John 3:16, or even quoting Scripture regularly in our conversations, there is another and better way to show the world we are Christians. The world will know we are Christians by the way we treat other people, no matter what their faith (or position) may happen to be.

Today I ask myself, does the world know I am Christ’s disciple by the way I treat my family, fellow workers, employees, and friends? How about all of the other people I encounter in a day: the waiters and bus boys, sales clerks and bank tellers, the mailman, bus driver and janitor? What about that annoying neighbor, the more annoying telemarketer, the homeless man on the sidewalk and the rude driver who cut me off in traffic? Do I treat everyone with love and respect or just the people that I already like or value?

“They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” [written by Peter Scholtes]

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
They will know we are Christians by our love

Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT)]

How could Jesus condense over 600 rules and regulations of the Old Testament into two simple laws? Actually, it was pretty easy since we can’t do one without the other! If we love God, we also love our neighbor and, let’s face it, it’s impossible to love our neighbor without loving God! Moreover, once we love our neighbor, our behavior toward him changes. We won’t envy or gossip about him, we won’t violate his marriage, or lie about him. If we love our neighbor, we certainly won’t steal from him, harm or kill him. God’s rulebook is quite simple. We have only two rules: love God and love our fellow man.

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both. [1 John 4:20-21 (MSG)]

Lord, help me rid my heart of anger, disdain, and animosity. Let the way I treat other people be a direct reflection of my relationship with you. May I be as generous and forgiving with my love as you are with yours.

But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips. [Colossians 3:8 (GNT)]

Lord, guide us so that our words build, not break; honor, not demean; and bless, not curse. Let our words be those of compassion, not judgment; love, not scorn; and praise, not disparagement.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. [Mother Teresa]