The Mark Of A Christian
All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Galatians 5:14
When men turn to God, God gives them agape love—and then they love their neighbor no matter what the color of his skin, no matter what his circumstances. This is the love that God gives as a gift, and it is produced in the heart by the Holy Spirit who lives there.
The Christian is to love fellow Christians. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Do we have love one to another? Do you know what the apostle Paul said about it in 1 Corinthians 13? He said that even if he had the ability to speak like an angel but didn’t have love, his words would be empty and meaningless—like a noisy cymbal.
Think of being the greatest orator in all the universe! Speaking with a thousand tongues in a thousand languages with the eloquence of the greatest speakers of all time! Paul said unless we have love, agape love—the divine love that only God can give—we are only “sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.”
Suppose I understand the Bible, have the gift of preaching, the gift of prophecy, and am the greatest preacher who ever lived. Paul said unless I have love “it profiteth me nothing.” Suppose I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, read the Bible every day, carry it under my arm every day, believe in all the creeds, unless I have love, Paul said I am nothing.
Suppose I have such faith that I could remove mountains. You would say, “What great faith that is!” That’s nothing, unless I love.
Suppose I give all the money that I have to charity. You would say I was a great man—a Christian man. But Paul said unless I have love it is nothing. Do you have this love? Without Jesus Christ in your heart, you can’t have this love. You can’t produce this love except with the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s the reason why you must receive Christ, and when you do He gives you the power and the strength, through the Holy Spirit, to produce this love.
George Sweeting says, “Life minus love equals nothing!”
Our Father and our God, give me a heart of love too. Pour Your love into my heart until it runs over and touches the lives of those around me. Use me, Father, as a channel of Your love to the lost, the lonely, the abused, and the sick. Help me to show the love of Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).