Make Love Your Motive
These things I command you, that ye love one another.
John 15:17
What is the great overwhelming evidence that we have passed from death unto life? It is love! Our Lord prayed, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21).
Jesus Christ clearly was speaking of visible unity, such as can be seen by the world. His motive for praying was that the world might believe and the world might know. He prayed for unity among believers. There is a kind of unity in diversity, a unity compatible with variety, and it is this pattern which Christ lays down for the church.
All through the book of Acts there occurs a key phrase: “with one accord.” The apostles were not given to quarreling over secondary points of doctrine. When difficulties did arise, every attempt was made to settle them in a reasonable and charitable spirit under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
God, who wills man’s unity in Christ, is a God of variety. So often we want everyone to be the same, to think and speak and believe as we do. Ephesians 2:19– 20, Philippians 2:1–4, and many other passages could be called to witness that love is the real key to Christian unity.
In the spirit of true humility, compassion, consideration, and unselfishness—which reflect the mind of the Lord Jesus—we are to approach our problems, our work, and even our differences.
James says that even the demons believe—and shudder. He is protesting against the barrenness of the orthodoxy which is divorced from love and good works. It is possible to be right theologically and yet to be lacking in a spirit of love.
John filled his epistles with the love that we are to have one for another: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren” (1 John 3:14)—not because we are sound in the Christian faith and believe the Bible from cover to cover. The one great test is love!
Our Father and our God, thank You for the beautiful variety You created in the world—and among your people. Help us develop the spirit of true humility, compassion, consideration, and unselfishness that reflects the mind of Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).