Our Daily Bread: Unity in JesusShembull

Family Likeness

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. -John 13:35

As I stood outside a sports venue waiting for friends to arrive, a woman approached me and asked, “Are you a Jackson?” Though acquainted with my parents and some of my siblings, she was a stranger to me. Yet there was something about me that resembled them, and this compelled her to identify me as a Jackson.

Who among us hasn’t noticed a facial feature, smile, or some other trait that resembles that of another? Sharing the physical, emotional, or personality likenesses of those with whom we share DNA is the way life works.

Is there something about us that would make others ask, “Are you a believer in Jesus?” In Ephesians 4:32–5:2, two family features of the family of Christ come into view: forgiveness—“forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (4:32) and love—“live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ” (5:2).

As those who identify as believers, we should have core characteristics of the Father and the Son that define us. Relationships, however, can be tough.

We’re prone to wound and scar each other through our words and actions (see 4:31). But in those same challenging situations, through the power of God’s Spirit, we’re able to demonstrate our kinship with other believers and with a loving, forgiving Father.

Arthur Jackson

What about you causes others to see you're a believer in Jesus? Where do you find it difficult to be forgiving and loving?

Father in heaven, I’m honored to be called Your child. Please help me to better represent You.