The Proof of Our Discipleship

[Daily Devotional]

The Proof of Our Discipleship

     By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another. John 13:35.  

     There is nothing that can so weaken the influence of the church as
the lack of love....The people of the world are looking to us to see
what our faith is doing for our characters and lives. They are watching
to see if it is having a sanctifying effect on our hearts, if we are
becoming changed into the likeness of Christ. They are ready to discover
every defect in our lives, every inconsistency in our actions. Let us
give them no occasion to reproach our faith.  

     It is not the opposition of the world that will most endanger us;
it is the evil cherished right in our midst that works our most grievous
disaster. It is the unconsecrated lives of halfhearted professors that
retard the work of the truth and bring darkness upon the church of God.


     There is no surer way of weakening ourselves in spiritual things
than to be envious, suspicious of one another, full of faultfinding and
evil surmising....  

     When you are associated together, be guarded in your words.... If
the love of the truth is in your heart you will talk of the truth. You
will talk of the blessed hope that you have in Jesus. If you have love
in your heart you will seek to establish and build up your brother in
the most holy faith. If a word is dropped that is detrimental to the
character of your friend or brother, do not encourage this evil
speaking. It is the work of the enemy. Kindly remind the speaker that
the Word of God forbids that kind of conversation. We are to empty the
heart of everything that defiles the soul temple, that Christ may dwell
within. Our Redeemer has told us how we may reveal Him to the world. If
we cherish His spirit, if we manifest His love to others, if we guard
one another's interests, if we are kind, patient, forbearing, the world
will have an evidence by the fruits we bear that we are the children of
God. It is the unity in the church that enables it to exert a conscious
influence upon unbelievers and worldlings.  

>From That I May Know Him - Page 153