Love...Not for Valentine's

I was reading and preparing for a blog about how the world can identify Christians, but when I logged on to Trista's homepage, msn.com, the lead story was about Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and eight examples of how animals are evolving before our eyes!

It's funny that in one example, animals evolved in my lifetime by making its legs grow shorter or its beaks smaller, but in another it says that a certain type of Skink has evolved to no longer use its legs over a period of 3.7 million years, which according to the article, is very fast in terms of evolution. If 3.7 million years is fast, what is 25 years?

My favorite snippet from the article was this. I'm sure you'll get a chuckle.

"Is human activity “natural”? Scientists say human activity is indeed affecting the evolution of other species. In one example, the human preference for large snow lotus plants, which are used in traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine, has meant that only the smaller plants go to seed. Hence, the snow lotus is getting smaller. In another example, scientists have found that human preference for trophy game such as big fish and caribou is driving these species to become smaller and reproduce at younger ages."

Really? Lotus plants know they are going to be picked so they decide to grow smaller? Those plants are totally outsmarting us humans! And how about those fish and caribou? Can't you just see them all sitting around the field saying, "Alright guys. You know the humans only like to shoot the ones that are fat and have big antlers. So stop growing and quit eating so our genes will evolve and make our offspring even smaller."

If only we all could evolve that easily. If it were that simple, we would all be able to breathe underwater and fly.

Proponents of evolution can argue with me all they want, but until they can answer this one question, there can be no discussion: Matter cannot be created from nothing. So how was the earth created?

Obviously, evolutionists have no answer for this. My answer is simple: "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth." Genesis 1:1.

For those that praise Darwin and his work, I invite you to read this comparison between him and another man born on this same day: Abraham Lincoln.

Now, on to the original topic of the blog. Many times I wonder if my coworkers and neighbors know I'm a Christian. Do my actions and words portray what a Christian should be?

Obviously, there should be an effort on my part to share my faith with those around me, but Jesus gave us the way to show our faith to everyone. In John 13:34-35, he said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Many times this verse gets confused with the "Golden Rule." You know, "do unto others." It's something like it, but it's more than just treating people nicely. It's loving them and loving them as Jesus loved us. And there was never any one that loved us more, as He died on the cross for each of us.

That goes to show the magnitude of the love Jesus is talking about. I know that everyone has that one person at work that gets on their last nerve and irritates them to the point of anger. To deal with this person, sometimes there are confrontations or maybe you vent to another colleague. But if we truly love this person as Jesus loved us, we will forgive them--or ask for forgiveness--immediately. Hard to do, yes. But so was death on the cross.

So many times in the New Testament the idea "bearing fruit" is discussed. In John 15, Jesus says that if we abide in Him we will bear fruit. Otherwise, we will wither and be cast out. 1 Colossians stats the importance of being fruitful in every good work. Bearing good fruit is proof that we are taking care of business as Christians and those around us will know us by our fruits.

But again, we can only bear fruit unless we abide in Christ. And that cannot happen unless with love Christ and love each other, just as He said in John 13.

Unfortunately, love is word that is so missused and taken for granted. But the true meaning can be found John 15:13 when he said that "greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

In Mark 12, Jesus said for us to "love your neighbor as yourself." This wasn't just good advice, He said it was the greatest commandment.

Love is so much more than an idea or word. It is an action. An action that people can see, feel and recognize.

If I want to show my co-workers and neighbors that I'm a Christian, I have to love them and be willing to do what Christ did for me.