At age 17 Jennie Todd found fault with everything about the church, from the teaching methods to the time worship was held. She resented her parents forcing her to go to church and Sunday School every week. She would sit in her class with her arms folded across her chest, slumped in a folding chair in the back of the class. She refused to make friends or to participate in class discussions. It was clear to everyone Jennie did not want to be there.

One night, though, Jennie came home to find her parents huddled in the driveway in their bathrobes. Their house was engulfed in flames. They watched all their worldly possessions consumed in blazes as the fire department desperately worked in vain. It was a tragedy she would never forget.

Then shortly after the fire, something happened that took Jennie by surprise. Some of the girls from her Sunday School class came to visit her. One of the girls handed her an envelope. Jennie opened the envelope with trembling hands to discover it was filled with money. "It's from everyone in the class," one of the girls told her. "We took a collection."

Jennie was overwhelmed by the love and affection she was shown that day. She never really wanted to be part of the class, but the class showed her how much they cared for her. "I received a lot more than money that day," she reflected, "I received unconditional love and a fresh realization of what it means to belong to the church."

Our society bombards us almost daily with the message that we should care only about ourselves. "You owe it to yourself," we hear in advertisements for vacation trips. "You deserve the best," we hear from people selling expensive products. Jesus' teachings run exactly counter to this prevalent attitude. The mark of a Christian is the love we show for one another. The popular hymn says it best, "They'll know we are Christians by our love."