God Speaking

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

My eye caught a clever advertisement as I was skimming through the newspaper the other day, it was a Dental Ad which featured a photo of a man with a big smile but what was very obvious to the reader, he was missing a tooth. The caption read;

You should stand out for the right reason

This started me thinking about what it is about people that stands out for others. We could call it “trademarks of others”. When I was a child we saw lots of photos of Winston Churchill in the news as the war was raging at the time and in several pictures he was either smoking or holding a cigar in his hand. The cigar is what I remember; his trademark so to speak. I began to think of how others stood out for me. The uncle who had that loud hearty laugh, the gentle smile of an aunty, the crazy hats of another. When I checked the dictionary, this is what I found;

Trademark – a distinctive characteristic associated with a person or a group of people

Of course the business world knows how important trademarks are. They are often the visual attention getter for whatever is being sold and consequently they are placed in strategic places for the public to see, so logos are emblazoned on runners T-shirts, arm bands of golfers, hats of bike riders. The company wants its trademark to signify excellence, to stand out as reliable trustworthy, implying that the customer also will stand out if they buy / wear / use their product.

As I was pursuing this thought, I wondered how the world would classify the trademark of a Christian. Fortunately we who love the Lord have been told by Jesus himself what will be our distinguishing mark.

LOVE

When others see how love defines how we behave, they will associate that love with the one who prompts our loving actions.

“A new command I give you; Love one another, As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34 – 35)

So what is the definition of that distinguishing trademark. Fortunately again Scripture gives a very clear picture of what that looks like. We find it in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7. The list is an important one to read regularly so we keep that trade mark in full view of all we come across in our daily life.

“⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7)

This beautiful song sums up what will truly be the outstanding trademark for all the world to see

They Will Know We are Christians By Our Love

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love