WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Key Scripture: By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ~ John 13:35 (NIV)

One of the most frequent comments I hear about Christians is, “They act just like everybody else. Sometimes worse, because they think they have a “get outta jail free card” from Jesus!”  Ugh. I think one of the most tragic things someone could say about a believer is, “I didn’t know they were a Christian!”

It must break Jesus’ heart to hear that…

Obviously, we ARE no “better” than anyone else. We are ALL sinners saved by grace… being better is not the point. But we ARE called to be DIFFERENT.

So, what IS that difference?

Jesus said the difference is love. He said, “Everyone will know you are my disciples, if you LOVE one another.”

Well, that’s nice. I know a lot of people who supposedly “love” one another, but still treat each other like crap. And oftentimes they’re even related to each other!

So, what does it really mean, to love one another?

Paul breaks it down for us in one of his letters to the Corinthians… a group of Christians who were also treating each other like crap and behaving just like everyone else in their society!

He said, “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

We’ve heard these things so many times… we hear them at nearly every wedding ceremony we attend. (Christian or not!) We may even know them by heart, or have them on a plaque on our desk or an artistic sign on our wall.

But to be true disciples of Jesus we need to get them off the wall and into our lives, so let’s break them down a bit…

Love is patient. The word for “patient” here actually means, “long suffering.” It means you put up with people, even when they’re jerks and don’t deserve it, even when you’re tired, even when you don’t feel you should have to anymore, even when you really don’t want to… you do so anyway. Because that’s what love does. It does NOT mean be a doormat. It means you do the hard thing of not giving up on people, even if they’ve given up on themselves.

Love is kind. Jesus put this very simply in what we now call The Golden Rule ~ treat other people the way you’d like to be treated. It’s not rocket science, but it means we have to actually STOP and THINK before doing or saying something, asking ourselves, “How would I feel if this was being done or said to me?”

Love is not jealous. When you are truly loving someone, you rejoice in their blessings, knowing there is plenty for everyone in God’s economy.

Love does not brag, it is not arrogant. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he says we should humbly treat others as greater than ourselves.

Love does not act disgracefully. It’s really easy for me to act like a jerk or do something I know is wrong when I think nobody is watching or I won’t be found out. Not acting disgracefully is easier to do if we remember that God is always with us… not like a grumpy grampa just waiting to whack us with his cane if we do something wrong, but like a loving parent guiding us in our actions each moment. IF we let Him.

Love does not seek its own benefit. Again, when we realize that there is always enough for everyone and that all glory is for God,  we don’t need to seek our OWN benefit. God will always benefit us.

Love is not provoked. So many times in Jesus’ life we see him answer calmly when people were trying to provoke Him. He could have been like, “Oh yeah?! Well BAM!” and bug zapped them, which is totally what I would have been tempted to do!!! Proverbs 15:1 tells us, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Love does not keep an account of a wrong suffered. Obviously, the absolute best example of this is Jesus on the cross saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Most people hurt us because they are scared or hurting. When we can see beyond our own hurt to the pain others are experiencing or have experienced, it makes it easier to understand and forgive.

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It’s easy to be angry when bad things happen, but sometimes we are the ones doing wrong and then lying - to ourselves and others - to try to convince all that what were doing is righteous. The truth will always be revealed.

Love keeps every confidence. In most translations this reads, “love bears all things,” which brings us back to being long suffering. The Amplified Bible says, “Love bears all things, regardless of what comes.” Now, THAT is long suffering.

Love believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Eugene Peterson in The Message puts it this way, “Love trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.”

Love never fails. Everything else in this world will fail, but love never will. Everything else in this world will die, but love never will. Everything else in this world will end, but love never will.

And THAT is the difference.

Love.

Not just a Bible verse we have memorized, a plaque on our desk, or words in a frame… but TRULY loving each other.

Even when it’s messy.

Even when it’s hard.

THAT is how people will know we are truly followers of Jesus.

Because we LOVE one another.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

SCRIPTURES

John 13:35 ~ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ~ Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (NASB)

Luke 6:31 ~ Do to others as you would have them do to you. (NIV)

Philippians 2:3 ~ Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. (NET)

Proverbs 15:1 ~ A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. (CSB)

Luke 23:34 ~ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (NKJV)

1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)