Love is the Mark of a Christian

I can still remember the ritual we went through every morning in my 2nd-grade class. Our teacher came in and told us that it was time to put on our “Golden Rule Gloves.” Then, we pretended to pull gloves over our fingers as we recited “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Then we went through the motions of fastening three buttons on each glove as we said, “God is love. Love one another.”

It makes perfect sense to go through this routine every morning with over twenty 2nd-graders. We were naturally selfish people who usually had not learned how to get along with other people. We competed with each other and then argued about the outcome. Every personal flaw provided fodder for a joke at someone else’s expense and we found it too tempting not to touch each other’s stuff. We needed to be taught to love one another.

All too often God’s people need to be reminded of some of the simple lessons that I first remember learning when I was seven-years-old. (I’m sure I had heard these things many times previously. This is just my first conscious recollection of it.) We are too often tempted to hold grudges against each other and judge one another for personal opinions. We often rudely lash out at people over the slightest disagreements. We struggle to love those who seem like an outsider.

When we think about the marks of a person who is a Christian, our love for other people in general and the people of God, in particular, is one of the chief characteristics that should come to our minds. After all, it was Jesus who said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why is this true, though? What is it about love that sets it apart as one of the chief marks of a Christian? Read More