A New Commandment

(And its Results)

In John 13:34 Jesus tells His apostles that He is giving them a new commandment - “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

Nothing really new about love, though, is there? God has taught that from the beginning. Even loving your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18) Jesus calls it a new commandment, though. What is the difference, then? Well, Jesus has not merely given a command to love, but how to love - “as I have loved you.”

Think about it. Seriously. How do you love others in the Family of God? Not just a few but the whole Family. The poet said, “How do I love thee, let me count the ways.” How did / does Jesus love us? Let’s count a few of the ways. Sacrificially … openly … patiently … without prejudice … understandingly … without favoritism … forgivingly … as a friend … unendingly … unconditionally … whether we are poor or rich, pretty or homely, educated or uneducated … cross - culturally … without regard to age … compassionately … UNTO DEATH AND BEYOND! The list could go on and on. And that’s how I should love you.

Consider the words from 1 John 4:7-11, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

In the first century people responded to the love of Jesus. People in the twenty-first century need to see that same love. I am convinced that people will respond to it, too. It is our responsibility to let the world see that love in, and through, the church. And the church is US!!

This is the kind of love that brings results. This is the kind of love that lets others know who we are. Jesus says in verse 35 of John 13, “By this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”

See you when the saints meet, Lord willing.

Love, Tony