John chapter 13 tells the story of the last supper, when Jesus sat down with the disciples to prepare them for what was to come: His betrayal; His crucifixion; His glorification. Although this shouldn’t have been a surprise—He’d told them before—they’d never truly understood or accepted His fate or purpose here.
They expected their Messiah to come in power and free them from Roman bondage, but this compassionate, homeless carpenter continued to astonish. I imagine the disciples felt lost and scared as Jesus—their leader, their savior, their everything—readied them for His departure.
He told them important things still relevant today. He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to dwell within them:
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
~John 14:16-18
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is the Spirit of truth, life, and grace—the very Spirit of God—that lives within us.
Jesus also instructed them to love each other selflessly, as He first loved them:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
~John 13:34-35
He not only told them to love one another, but that this love would serve as a visible way to identify disciples of Christ.
He left them with a commandment to love that would leave them marked, that should leave us marked.
Marked by compassion for one another.
Marked by a spirit of forgiveness.
Marked by a desire to serve.
Our love for one another is an identifier that marks us as His.
Being a disciple of Jesus marks you: not by the cross around your neck or the songs on your radio or your presence in the pew. You’re marked with His love, which left unchecked and unhindered should permeate your life and relationships, His fingerprint upon you.
Paul tells us in the book of Galatians that this love is so powerful that it satisfies the law of the commandments:
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
~Galatians 5:14
If you love others as yourself you won’t steal, kill, covet, commit adultery, or bear false witness. This kind of love is radical, transformative.
Are we marked by it? Marked by a consuming love for Him and the love we show others?
If Jesus said that our love for one another would identify us as His disciples, how do we live that in the every day?
by Dawn Camp, My Home Sweet Home
Leave a Comment
Bev Duncan @ Walking Well With God says
Dawn,
Love, Christ’s love in us, satisfies the laws of the commandments…wow! Every day we need to “put on” Christ’s love. Some days it’s more of a challenge than others, but it is a conscious decision. Constantly reading about and looking at what Christ did, gives us a road map as to how we need to handle the everyday situations we encounter. The more we abide in Him, the more we become like Him. In short, if I want to love others, I need to stick like glue to Christ.
My constant prayer is that my life would be a giant arrow pointing to Christ…thanks for a great reminder of what I need to do and where I need to be!
Blessings,
Bev
Dawn Camp says
Bev, I love this: if I want to love others, I need to stick like glue to Christ.
Janet says
Taking care of my family through the Fruit of the Spirit is how it is most pronounced in my life.
Dawn Camp says
That’s certainly an act of love, isn’t it?
karyn says
it’s so impossible for me.
JESUS, husband, family and best friends …..
🙁
Dawn Camp says
Karyn, just keep loving on those people in your life!
Marty says
“Being a disciple of Jesus marks you: not by the cross around your neck or the songs on your radio or your presence in the pew. You’re marked with His love…”
GREAT reminder today. Thank you for sharing!
Dawn Camp says
And thank you for reading!
Joanne Peterson says
Hi Dawn,
How convicting! This makes me pause to consider, am I really loving my 3 and 4 year old with the love of Jesus when I am getting impatient with them, and their misbehavior? Am I loving my husband in the way he feels loved? I have some communicating, apologies, repenting and many changes of behavior to do.
Blessings,
Joanne
Kim J says
He is the vine, I am the branch, and as long as I abide in him I will produce much fruit. Remaining in him is the key. If I try to love others in the flesh, then I will surely disappoint, but if I walk in the Spirit Jesus shows me how to love and show kindness to others, not always easy, but He gives us a wonderful example.
Sandy says
Thank you Dawn for this great reminder …..what a great challenge when thought about in human terms but I am encouraged today to know that the Spirit of God in me will enable be to be able to give such great love to others.
Renee says
What a great reminder that LOVE should be what emanates from us. My new question when I look in the mirror in the morning will be: WILL I BE MARKED FOR CHRIST and at night will be : WAS I MARKED FOR CHRIST TODAY? Thanks. I think my kids will enjoy this as well.
It reminds me of a poem I memorized as a child that is still with me over 30 years later. I do not remember the author. This is what I remember:
Has someone seen Christ in you today? Christian look to your heart I pray. Have your thoughts been pure? Have your words been kind? Have you sought to have the Savior’s mind? The world with a criticizing view has watched, but did they see Christ in you
Sandra Crittenden says
WE WERE HIS THE MOMENT JESUS LEFT HEAVEN FOR US. HE SHOWED HIS LOVE ON THE CROSS SURELY WE CAN LOVE AS HE DOES OUR GIVER OF LIFE.
Jean kelley says
So indebted to Him, words could never express the gratefulness for his Divine love to the World and least of all me.
Beth WIlliams says
Just came from a retreat (5/17) where it was stated “loving others in the world requires us to go where they are”. We must meet them in their circumstance–bar, strip club, slums, etc. We have to go there and offer them hope first. When we gain their confidence we can offer Christ!
Blessings 🙂
Alan Brown says
The love he has for us every day should shine through us in brilliant display to show others how much he cares for the ones that reflect his image to the rest of the world that needs to hear his voice calling to them in the depths of their being.
Blessings
Jeanne Bowser says
So true and convicting, all the time to stay in that love walk. Thank you Holy Spirit..Apart from Him, I can do nothing, but I am not apart from Him. I like the sticking like glue to Jesus!:) Might have to do an object lesson in Kids Church with that:)
Sandy. says
These Days I Always Say Love means to Forgive All.
But. Love is More Pure & Powerful than that.
Love. Means Everything.
And. Love means I Care.
Perhaps I Care the Very Most.
God Cares the Very Best.
And. Jesus is Love.
It use to be the Message Long Ago as a Child.
Sometimes Life Gets so Complicated.
And. You Hear the Words I Love You. God Loves You.
God is Love.
<3 Sandy.
Hebrews 6:10 (NIV)
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work & the love you have shown
him as you have helped his people & continue to help them.
+
Soraya Vercosa says
I have learned that love in Christ can help and tranform our lives. The Holy Spirit can make everything in us, but we have to walk and do what Jesus told us. I am sure that doing this we are totally transformed. God bless you all.
Dawn Camp says
Soraya, you’re right that that kind of love is transforming. How can it not be?
Tara says
The love of Christ has changed me and made me a new person in him. I love others every day. I walk with Jesus every day and do what He tells me He wants me to do for him that day .
Matthew Wright says
Is the love of JESUS shining in your heart today. If it were illegal to be a
Christian? would the world have enough on you to put you away? We are to let our light so shine before men. This nation of ours needs godly men and women to follow II Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Geneva says
The missing element in some churches is love! God is love therefore we must
love another in spite of what might be going on around us. God’s love is limitless
and so should our love be. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
In Christ we can love.
Dawn Camp says
Geneva, that’s the test isn’t it: “we must love another in spite of what might be going on around us”? Praying we can show that love in all circumstances!
Jackton says
Am marked, verily. God bless you for writing this!