How Will They Know You?

Rev. Brian White preaches for us on John 13:31-35, “The Upper Room Discourse,” and shows us how we are to love one another and what true love is, as God defines and demonstrates it to us. How God defines love is different from how the world defines love. Loving others as God requires must be done in light of the cross. It must be done in light of what God, through the cross, has done for us and others in the Church, as well as Christ’s self-sacrificial love in giving Himself up for us. The glory of the love from Jesus is that it is steadfast and sacrificial. We cannot love one another in every respect as Christ has loved us; however, the contours of this love can and must be patterned by the Church. The heart of the gospel is that with everything we are called to do, we are not able to do it by ourselves. The source of this loving power is not earned or mustered up within us; it is freely given to us through the cross and the renewal of the Spirit. By this love, proper love between unloveable sinners, the world will know that we are Christ’s.