“A new commandment that I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”     John 13:34-35 NKJV

We must be aware that people are watching us, especially if we claim to be Christians. There are people checking us out to see if we are the real deal or just a fake. One surefire way to determine this is by our love. Our love is what separates the genuine Christians from the fake Christians.

Now love is a beautiful word. We love to be loved. But we must keep in mind that to love someone isn’t always easy. It means we take the good with the bad. It means that we gently correct them if we see them mess up. And we try to gently lift them up if they stumble or fall. Love is definitely easier said than done. It’s so easy to say, “I love you,” especially when someone is being good to us. When they turn on us or betray us, it becomes more of a challenge.

Jesus said to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us in Matthew 5:44. This means we must go against our fleshly desire for revenge. Paul said in Romans 12:19 that we should not seek revenge, but we should let God handle vengeance because it belongs to Him. It’s not our job. And we should never try to take over God’s job.

This is where it helps to pray for them. Praying for them can actually help us to love them and have compassion for them. I know this from personal experience.

As an immature or baby Christian, I still wanted to satisfy the flesh by lashing out and seeking vengeance. I knew it was wrong and I controlled myself but, in all honesty, it just wasn’t that easy. I spoke with a Christian friend one evening who felt compassion for the woman who had destroyed her marriage of over 40 years. I asked her how she could possibly have any compassion on this woman and even care about what this woman had been through. She told me she had started praying for her and found she couldn’t pray for someone and be angry and vengeful towards them at the same time. She said that as she prayed, God changed her heart towards this person.

She had such peace, I decided to give it a try. I found myself numerous times a day asking God to remove any bitterness and anger from my heart. He answered that prayer and I too had compassion for my enemy. I loved my enemy and was able to pray for them. I’m still a work in progress and still struggle with this at times.

When we act like the rest of the world, we destroy our witness. There are lost souls out there looking at us to see how we Christians handle things. If they see that we are no different than anyone else, why should they turn to Christ? I mean, it didn’t do anything for us, right? But if they see us exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, they may want this for themselves. They may want to trade their bitterness, anger, wrath, envy and things of this nature for peace, love, and joy and the things that go with it. They may look at us and think they want what we have.

If you are dealing with bitterness, anger, wrath, envy and all those other works of the flesh outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 you may want to exchange them for the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22.

If you claim to be a Christian and are dealing with the works of the flesh you might want to do a little self-evaluation. If you exhibit more works of the flesh and less fruit of the Spirit, surrender to the Lord. He will be glad to help you with that. Others will know if you are the real deal by your love.

Have a great day!