Life offers many options: hair styles, clothes styles, makes and models of cars, music choices, where we live, etc. But, for followers of Jesus, there are a few commands with no options.
One of those commands is to LOVE everyone who follows Jesus. John 13:34, 35 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Loving each other well is a chief characteristic of Jesus’ church.
Some see love as a strong, uninvited, uncontrollable emotion. Jesus, however, sees love as a servant of our will, not a victim of our emotions. God’s love for us is not conditioned by appearance or abilities, but by His choice (Deuteronomy 7:7 “The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples for you were the fewest of all peoples”).
Paul even expressed deep love for brothers and sisters in Christ who had hurt him prior to their becoming believers. Philippians 1:8 “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Jesus Christ.”
What makes this a “new command”? Jesus takes this expected “love” a notch higher than “loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.” His new command is to love each other “as He loves us.” How is that kind of love possible? God gives us His Spirit to change our hearts and act like Jesus. He never gives us a command to follow without giving us the power to accomplish it.
Since Jesus gave the world permission to judge whether we are His followers by our love for each other, what actions are the tell-tale signs of that kind of love? We will explore love's practical characteristics in our next posts.
On a journey toward being like Jesus ~ Bob
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome to the table, friend!
This is where we gather and hang out. I'd love for you to pull up a chair and jump right into the conversation. Or simply say 'hello.'
l'll be dropping in to visit you sometime soon ...
Linda