By This All Will Know

Jesus had just given the command. Love one another, as I have loved you. Then, before anyone could ask why, He told them:

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

By this. Not by our doctrine, though doctrine matters. Not by our worship style, our Bible translation, or how many verses we can quote. By this.

And notice the audience. “All will know.” In Greek it’s pantes, everyone. Jesus wasn’t describing a private test that only God grades. He was describing something the watching world can see.

About 150 years later, it happened. A Christian writer named Tertullian recorded what the pagans of his day were saying about the church: “See how they love one another.” They didn’t understand the Trinity. They had never read Romans. But they saw Christians caring for widows nobody else wanted, burying the poor, visiting their own in prison. And they knew.

So here’s the uncomfortable question. If someone watched only how we treat one another, our church family, our group, our comment sections, what would they conclude?

That’s not meant to shame anyone. I ask it of myself first. The good news is that we don’t manufacture this love. We pass along what we received. He loved us first.

Who could you show that kind of love to this week, where someone might see it?

On Thursday: “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).