Known By Our Love

Known by Our Love

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” — John 13:35

In the 1960s, a song was written called “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love.” I’ve sung those words. I’ve felt the conviction behind them.

But somewhere along the way, many of us—including myself—have misunderstood what love truly is.

So what kind of love are Christians actually called to?

Paul gives us the picture in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7:

“Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

This is biblical love.

It is not shallow tolerance.

It is not indulgence of sin.

It is not based on fleeting feelings or cultural trends.

Biblical love tells the truth.

Biblical love sacrifices.

Biblical love endures.

And it looks very different from what the world often calls “love.”

Consider the woman at the well in John 4. She encountered the love of Christ in a way that forever transformed her life.

Jesus went out of His way to meet her—a woman living in sin, rejected by her community. He didn’t ignore her sin; He confronted it. But He did so with grace, offering her what her soul was truly thirsty for: Living Water.

He was that Living Water.

It was His love that sought her out.

It was His love that spoke truth into her life.

It was His love that changed her story.

And it is this same love—Christ’s love reflected through us—that will show the world we belong to Him. 

They will know we belong to Jesus—not by bowing to what the world calls love, but by bowing to the One who is love.