Lately, I’ve been struck by how loud people’s actions
actually speak -- how even a mere response to a situation, a spoken word, or
an action by another can build someone up or tear someone down.  The things we do and/or say are so powerful.

This weekend, I read a question in Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, that took this reality even
further.  Chan asks, “How would my life
change if I actually thought of each person I came into contact with as Christ
– the person driving painfully slow in front of me, the checker at the grocery
store who seems more interested in chatting than ringing up my items, the
member of my own family with whom I can’t seem to have a conversation and not
get annoyed?”

I think of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 about love
and I have to ask, is this the love others see when they hear me and watch me
interact with the people around me?  It
is clear and true, our love is shown by how we live our lives.

“Dear children let us not love with words or tongue, but
with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).