In John’s first epistle, he says the phrase “by this we know,” eight times. He emphasizes this for us so that we may know where we are in Christ. Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” God expects us to increase our knowledge of His love, and one way that we accomplish this is by looking at His Son.

The act of knowing is a building process and that process can’t move forward unless there is first a firm foundation. The Bible says “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Over and over the Bible emphasizes growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. And that’s why John would say “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

The way that we know we’re on the right track is if we love each other the way that Jesus loved us. As Christians, we have a confirmation from God that we are His, and it’s found in the Act of loving each other. It identifies who we are, and it tells us where we are. The way that we know we are His is found in our willingness to lay down our lives for each other. It’s in the willingness to let the other one get the credit; the willingness to build them up, instead of finding fault and tearing each other down.

We get off course when we set our own agenda’s, and lose sight of our main purpose, which is to be a blessing to the Lord. The only way that we can bless the Lord is if we’re first a blessing to each other. If we don’t know how to do that, we can become a curse instead of a blessing.

Hosea 4:6 says; “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” People who don’t know that they should lay down their lives for the brethren will ultimately destroy each other. Damian Kyle said; “We are a danger to each other outside of brokenness.” We must understand that the true love of God is the act of giving up our rights and our lives for others, and that means dying to our ambitions, and ourselves. Not knowing this is a danger to ourselves and to all those around us. We may find ourselves tearing each other down rather than looking for ways to build each other up.

So this week, let’s ask God to help us pick up our cross daily, deny ourselves, follow Him and allow the Holy Spirit to have complete control. The love of God is like a compass. It tells us that we’re on course, and going in the right direction. It testifies that we are His disciples. So instead of looking for ways to tear each other down, let’s ask the Lord to help us to find ways to build each other up!

In Jesus’ Name,
Pastor Dan