Love Needed as Leaders

Love is the identifying mark of the leaders God left to shine brightly in a dark world. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35). Without love for one another, as Christians, we disobey Jesus. In the context, as leaders, without love for one another we are not recognizable as Jesus' disciples. By inference, without love, we are not qualified to lead God's people. Jesus says our love for one another will make us recognizable to all men. Jesus is not just saying Christians will recognize someone because of the love they have for one another, but he is also saying unbelievers will know them because of the love they have for one another. As leaders we must be recognized by the love we have for those whom we want to take in a particular direction. If we are not recognizable to those whom are outside of our immediate circles as well, then we have not the love Jesus has called for us to have. Jesus shows His dynamic leadership skills in the next verse when Peter asks, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answers Him by saying that Peter cannot go where He is going, but he will follow later. Jesus shows that He will be leading even when He is not seen, but He knows that Peter will live in such a way as to attain to the same end result. Peter did not understand at this point in time the vitality of the love needed as a leader of the people whom were to see the apostles' love for one another.