We read in Holy Scripture “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Perhaps a lot of people read this scripture and believe that it never applies to their own self, but only applies to those that were the disciples of Christ, at the time of Christ’s incarnation. That interpretation is fundamentally wrong, for the passage is meant to be pertinent to each and every one of us that claims the moniker of being a Christian, today. That is to say, those that are adherents to the Christian faith, must have love for one another, or else people will know that they aren’t really of the Christian faith, for Christianity is a foundation built upon love, which Christ espoused to those that had ears to listen, again and again.
So then, those that claim to be Christian, but spend inordinate amounts of time spewing hatred of other religions which they consider to be inimical to what God wishes us so to believe, as well as those that are uncharitable in their behavior and actions to others, for whatever reason, aren’t Christians, at all, and to accept them as being Christians, actually besmirches the good name of Christians, everywhere. That is to say, by their fruits ye shall know them, and those that are filled with vengeance, discord, incivility, and intolerance, aren’t Christian in their character.
The dividing line between a true Christian as compared to that which is a fraudulent Christian, is not very difficult to discern, for Christians are those that are charitable to others, whether these particular people are or are not part of the faith; in addition, those that are patient, considerate, caring, and compassionate are Christian. Indeed, when those qualities exist in a given person, even those that do not consider themselves to be Christian, are in practicality, Christian, in the sense that they have taken on the good characteristics of what it so means to be Christian.
Life is filled of labels, of which some of these labels are clearly misapplied. There are lots of ways to define what a Christian is, but the very best way so defined is as to whether or not that individual is filled with love for those that are our fellow members of our society. Indeed, those that love and express that love consistently and unconditionally to others, are the very best exemplars of Christianity. We are meant to not only to be our brother’s keeper, but also to make sure to provide that helping hand to our brother, for none of us are here alone, for we are instead gathered together, so that we can rise up together to get to that destination that can only be obtained by our good works so applied within this world, for the betterment of those that we congregate with, day by day. Those that are Christian, will be challenged, for they will be challenged to make those important and correct decisions, of which, those that are true to Christ, are the very ones that will not waver when it comes to doing right by thy neighbor.