“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35 ESV) should start with our own family members. So when I am admonishing my kids to “be a blessing” to each other while the toddler is getting on everyone’s last nerve or the teenager is extra surly, I often ask them why we love others, to which they are known to respond with a begrudging “because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Begrudging not because they don’t believe it’s true, but because it is so true that there is zero wiggle room for excuse making or blame casting.
