Evidence to convict?

     We're studying John 13 this week in Bible study, and one of the verses that has particularly stood out to me--particularly in light of Valentine's Day today--is "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
     Boy, based upon this standard and the way we're loving others, would the world have sufficient evidence to convict us of being Christians?  So often we miss the mark, don't we?  When I get short-tempered with my children or irritated with my husband, or frustrated with another's weaknesses, how on earth will the world know what a good and great Savior I have... or profess to have.  All the words in the world don't make up for how we love.  
     I remember hearing many years ago the simple phrase, "Love is action."  Love isn't  emotion.  Love isn't a plethora of lovely sounding phrases.  Love isn't feeling.  No, love is action.  But it's so easy to forget, isn't it?   The words can flow off our tongues... but the world won't judge based upon the quantity of our words but upon the quality of our love.  And frankly, we can tell someone we love them all day long, but until we demonstrate it, until we validate our words with our actions, well, it won't mean squat.
     And here's a little sober food for thought from Francis Schaeffer on this probing verse.  Schaeffer explains that when Jesus says this, He essentially "turns to the world and says, 'I've something to say to you.  On the basis of My authority, I give you the right: You may judge whether or not an individual is a Christian on the basis of the love he shows to all Christians.'  In other words, if people come up to us and cast in our teeth the judgment that we are not Christians because we have not shown love toward other Christians, we must understand that they are only exercising a prerogative that Jesus gave them.  And we must not get angry.  If people say, 'You don't love other Christians,' we must go home, get down on our knees, and ask God whether or not they are right.  And if they are, then they have a right to have said what they said."
     Whew.  Wonder what I'm telling the world about my Savior and about the faith I profess based upon the way I've loved others today?   The way I drive my car.  The way I share with those in need.  The way I talk to my family.  The attitude with which I do my chores (resentment or gratitude).
     If our love of others provides scant evidence of our faith, might this be the day we confess and repent and begin anew--to love, truly love, by the power of the Holy Spirit, those God has sovereignly placed in our lives and in our paths.  Might there be plenty of evidence to convict us of being Christians by the way we love.
     To God who is love, be all the glory.