Logo Wear
Now Playing: How well do we represent the Lord ?
Topic: Christian Walk
2 Chronicles 19-20, John 13:21-38
Key Verses: John 13:34-35

A current marketing trend is stores that sell only logo wear. Want a hat that has a favorite team name on it? You can get it there-as well as shirts, pants, socks, pens, pencils, posters, beanie babies . . . you get the picture. We like to let others know our favorite teams, schools, vacation spots and hobbies by becoming a walking billboard. We proclaim our loves.

While we proclaim our loves, Jesus wants our love to proclaim. Specifically, He said that by our love for one another "all men will know that you are my disciples" (v. 35). The logo wear of the disciple of Christ is love.

Read carefully, though. Jesus said that we are to love as He has loved us (v. 34). The definition of love does not come from the latest popular movie or song on the radio but from the example set by Jesus. In Ephesians 5:25-32, Paul detailed Christ's love for us:

1. His is a sacrificial love--He gave himself up for us (v. 25).
2. His is a purifying love--He did that to make the church holy (v. 26).
3. His is a caring love--just as we take care of our bodies, He takes care of us (v. 29).
4. His is an unending love--like God intended for husbands and wives, united permanently, a union that illustrates the union of Christ and the church (vv. 31-32).

It's easy to put on a hat with a favorite team logo to let people know we are fans. But it is vital that our lives be a logo, stamped indelibly with the trademark of a disciple--love for one another. And not just any love, but a love patterned after the love of Christ.

Does your love for others show enough that you are recognized as a disciple?

(from W. Kroll, T. Beckett)