“Love one another. Just as I have loved
you, you are also to love one another.”
John 13:34
We use the word love in many different
ways, and they don’t all mean the same
thing. Would she be moved if he softly said,
“I love you like I love pizza?” Probably not.
I once followed a car with a bumper sticker
“I love my cat” on one side and “I love
Jesus” on the other side. I thought to
myself, those two statements shouldn’t be
on the same bumper!
Jesus commanded love one another. Period.
Love one another. No qualifier, no
conditions. Not, just if they love you or if
they are nice to you. Just love one another.
Some might ask “can we do that?”
Meaning, are we capable of truly loving one
another? Would the Lord command us to do
something we are not capable of doing?
To love one another means to love
unconditionally, the same way Jesus has
loved us. We are to love one another like
Jesus loves us. What does that look like?
“God proves His own love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.” Romans 5:8
Though it might be difficult for us to
comprehend, Jesus loved us before we knew
Him, before we were even aware of Him,
and before we committed to follow Him. He
has always loved us.
This gives us a different perspective on the
command to love one another. We think in
terms of those we know, friends, family,
and acquaintances. Could it be that to love
as Jesus loves us, is to love those we don’t
know yet? We are to love people, all people,
even those we don’t like.
To love like Jesus, we must follow His
example. Again, we tend to put love one
another as I have loved you only in context
of how He loved and cared for His
disciples. He loved them unconditionally
with great patience, compassion,
understanding, and perseverance. He
lovingly dealt with their lack of faith,
preconceived thoughts, and preoccupation
with self. These things we can see without
too much difficulty.
However, Jesus demonstrated a much
deeper understanding of love one another.
The evening He washed the disciples’ feet,
He also lovingly washed the feet of His
betrayer Judas. His love is unconditional.
As Jesus hung on the cross crucified, in the
midst of His suffering and pain, He looked
down at His accusers and prayed, “Father,
forgive them, because they do not know
what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
The length, width, height, and depth of the
love of Christ Jesus is beyond our
comprehension. It’s only with the power
and presence of His Spirit that we have any
hope to follow Him to love one another.
Blessed by you, Bro. Sherman
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