We always want proof.
Just go apply for a passport, if we doubt that. And it’s not true just in legal matters. In relationships, we’re always on the lookout for signals that we’re the center of our partner’s devotion. Eyes. Did he glance at that pretty girl? Cell phone. Who has she been calling? It’s in the way he says “Good morning,” and the enthusiasm of her kiss when he comes home from work.
Proof. It’s plain and simple. We’re all legal experts in this matter, detectives of a sort, able to root out the barest sign that something’s amiss.
And when we overlook the clues? We’re devastated. We feel our betrayal comes out of nowhere. We were blindsided, and we begin to search for what we hadn’t even seen coming.
Why? We don’t want to be betrayed again.
Some cynics doubt the truth of the Word. Jesus was just a man. The spirit of godliness came over him when John baptized him, and it left him on the cross. He was born human, and he died human, to be buried forever in the grave. He hasn’t risen, and death claimed him for its own, just as it will each of us.
The Bible says differently, and we can find our proof between its covers.
James 2:18 tells us:
“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
What we do proves who we are. Just like with that passport. When we can pull out a valid birth certificate and picture ID, they support our claims of citizenship. We are who we say we are.
In love, the proof is in our actions. We hold the door, give the expected kiss, and our eyes sparkle with recognition each time we greet our partner. It’s something the whole world can see.
How about Jesus? What’s his proof? We find it in 1 John 3:16:
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
So, how can we prove our Christian love for our friends and families? The answer is in the same verse, that we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
We do this in rather more practical ways. We step in when our church members are in financial difficulties. We offer our support during times of emotional stress. Our time becomes theirs. We fill the gap when the church needs us, and in that action, we offer proof of who we are.
We are the followers of Christ. The proof of his divinity is found in an empty tomb. The proof of his love is seen in his death on the cross.
Our love toward our Christian companions is the proof of our devotion to him.
When we act out our love is when the world sees that our love for Christ is real.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.G.16.15.vp.esv
Originally Published 11-12-15 in Relationships