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What would you say makes someone a good Christian? Is it that they go to church, they read their Bible, and they pray? Perhaps it’s someone that doesn’t lie, cheat, or steal. Some may say that Christians don’t get drunk, or smoke, or cuss, or go to wild parties. What do we teach our children about being a good Christian? They need to not disobey, or treat their brothers and sisters mean. They need to not do what all the wordly kids do – then they are definitely being a good Christian :-).
It seems like what I mentioned above can really start to become our definition of Christianity for ourselves and our families. However, Jesus himself tells us how we can recognize who is really following Him:
John 13:35
By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.
Wait, that’s it? Love? It’s not about what we don’t do, Jesus said it is what we do that reveals we are a follower of Christ. It is how we love with our words and actions that lets the world know that we belong to Jesus! Maybe that should be our focus, too!
Jesus said in Matthew 22, “’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Instead of trying to not do anything wrong, we can focus on loving God and loving others as ourselves. When we do this, we will automatically get all the do’s and don’ts right.
I think I can do a better job of conveying this to my children, too. Instead of focusing on everything they don’t need to do, I need to focus on teaching them how to show their love for God and how to love the people around them. By this will everyone know you are Jesus’s disciple, if you love one another.
Jesus, being Your follower is not about everything I don’t do. It is about You filling me with Your love and letting that love overflow to those around me. I’m sorry for when my focus has been wrong and for when I have focused on the don’ts with my children. I want to make Your love a big deal in my house. Please help me be an example of Your love to my children and to the world around me. You didn’t save me for the don’ts, You saved me for all the do’s I get to do in You!!