Love one another

When Jesus gave us His commandment to love one another (John 15:12), it made at least three things clear about love: it’s always possible, it’s purposeful and it is Godly.

We know our love for others is possible or Jesus would not have assigned it to us. Recall how, amazed and astonished by His teaching, the disciples asked Jesus about salvation and He did not hesitate to point out that this is impossible with man; it is only possible with God (Matthew 19:25-26, Mark 10:26-27, Luke 18:26-27). We are saved by God, through Jesus the Christ. Love, however, is our choice to make and ours to express. Neither a feeling nor a mood, but a decision. Possible wherever we are, in whatever circumstances we are in…..

Making it a commandment, we know our loving others fulfills a purpose. Paul writes about this, teaching that love fulfills every commandment from God (Galatians 5:14). Also, Jesus counts us His friend as we keep His commandment (John 15:14). Loving others is an expression of our love for God and friendship with Christ. Interestingly, science is catching up with what the Word already tells us: it fills our physical lives with meaning as we take up this spiritual mission that Christ gives us. Our brains are wired for empathy, we are predisposed to care for the injured and doing good for others makes us feel good about ourselves. How wonderfully made we are to fulfill the purpose of love!

The commandment concludes with Jesus asking us to love as He Himself has loved us. God has set the example. You are loved by God so much, that He wants you around forever! (John 3:16) In fact, it is because He first loved us that we are ourselves filled with a love to share. We are given the indwelling Holy Spirit, perfecting us in His Love (John 14:15-23). John, who walked with Christ before His Sacrifice and after His Resurrection and was afterward visited by Christ in Divine Revelation, came to the conclusion that without loving others we cannot know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8). Not only a loving God who loves us, but God IS love. Love is a Godly attribute, given to us freely and in abundance.

Never forget this: you are a sacred and special Child of God, created in the image of God. The commandment to love is then simply Christ’s instruction to be your true self: a decisively loving Child of God, sharing with others this truth of God’s Love.

God Bless you and yours, now and always.