MOSUL – There are places in the world where Christians are under attack. Some countries prohibit Christians from telling others about Jesus under anti-terrorism or anti-evangelism laws in regions where Christians are in the minority. We tend to be somewhat surprised by this, but the Lord is not.He has known this would happen from before the foundation of the world. His foreknowledge explains why He reminded His disciples, “By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)Despite the fact that those words came directly from Christ Himself, some fail to believe that love is really that powerful. To minimize the power of godly love is also to ignore that the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians that having faith strong enough to move mountains was worthless without first loving others in the name of Christ. (I Corinthians 13:2).

Dr. Paul Osteen, the founder of the Mobilizing Medical Missions (M3) Conference, recently reported how our love for the Lord is revealed as we allow it to flow through us even though we may not be permitted to approach others about Jesus.

Osteen recently returned from two months serving at an emergency field hospital outside of Mosul when the city was under attack by ISIS. He explained to The Christian Post that

I’ve never seen such indescribable evil in my life. I thought I’d seen evil, but nothing compared to what I saw in Mosul: A sniper shot through a mother, killing her baby. Little ones, 2 and 3 years old, with legs and arms blown off. Just terrible, horrific stuff.

He shared the story of one young man who had undergone a leg amputation as a result of injuries sustained during the conflict. Emphasizing that his team was not allowed to evangelize or promote our Christian faith in any way, he spoke of how the staff always greeted the young man, treated him with kindness, and expressed their personal concern for him.

Just prior to being released from the ICU, the patient approached the medical team and said, “I want to experience the same God that you guys have.”

The team hadn’t moved mountains. They had removed the young man’s leg. They hadn’t talked to him about Jesus. He saw Jesus in them.

This is what the Lord expects from true believers. Christ gave His disciples the Great Commission to go and teach all the things He had taught them. (Matthew 28:20) The word “teach” that He used means to “live a fully human life in this world in union with Jesus Christ and growing in conformity to His image.”

That begins with loving the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, then loving our neighbor as ourselves. (See Mark 12:30-31)

Without the love of Christ revealed through us, nothing else we do will ever matter.

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