By This...!

“I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35 

Let's face it, there are some people who are negative.  Have you ever noticed that negative people have the tendency to want others to commiserate with them?  It's as if they have no joy in their lives except negativity.  And guess what?  Negativity is highly contagious!  How do I know this, because when I spend too much time around negative people, I become negative right along with them.

This past Sunday, my wonderful pastor shared a story that smacked me right between the eyes.  He told about a holy man and his companion who were walking along a road and came upon a river that was beginning to flood.  The holy man noticed a scorpion stuck in a place where it would be washed away if it weren't rescued.  The holy man reached down to help the scorpion, yet the scorpion stung him, as scorpions are wont to do.  The holy man reached down again to rescue this scorpion and got stung again.  Over and over the holy man reached down and was stung.  Finally he was able to rescue the scorpion.  His companion, stunned, asked the holy man, "Why did you keep reaching down to rescue the scorpion knowing you were going to be stung?"  The holy man, whose hand was by now swollen and painful, replied, "I have a love for ALL God's creations. I could not allow the scorpion to change that love."

Honestly, I don't think I would have enough love to keep reaching down to try to rescue a scorpion who seemed so bent on being washed away.  When I encounter negative people, after a while, I begin to avoid contact with them.  In so doing, how does that prove to be a disciple of Christ, who commanded us to LOVE ONE ANOTHER?  And here's the kicker, Jesus said, "BY THIS (loving one another) everyone will know that you are my Disciple."  When I begin to become negative, I need to step back and spend time recharging and re-focusing on the Christ who loves me so much that He died for me.  But I cannot disengage from negative people because in so doing, I become negative towards them, and, thus, become just like them.

BY THIS everyone will know!