"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35-35 (NLT)
We were discussing how to live this text in our daily lives. What does it look like to love one another? There were lots of good answers in the group but one stood out in my mind. Someone said, "It's how you respond."
Think about that for a second. We spend our days "responding." When someone asks a question, we respond verbally. When we are driving in the car and someone beeps at you one milli-second after the light turns green, we respond. When you greet a person behind the counter, it's a response. As you walk, whether it be on the street or down the hall at work, and you lock eyes with a stranger or a co-worker, the look in your eyes is a response.
How are you responding? If you are in the middle of something and someone walks up and asks a question, do you respond with enthusiasm and a welcoming tone? When the beep happens, do you respond with a kind wave, using your entire hand? When you walk up to the counter and the person says "How are you?", do you stop, answer and ask them how they are in return? And that person you pass along the way, do you look at their eyes, notice them and say "Good Day!?"
Maybe, loving one another starts in our simple responses. It awakens what comes next....which is a conversation.