Scripture

“Now I am giving you a new commandment. Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another.”

Observation

It is the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. Judas leaves the room to go and prepare his treacherous act.

In the midst of all this, Jesus’ thoughts are for His friends. He tells them He will soon be leaving them; they will look for Him but will not find Him.

He gives them a final commandment to love one another as He has loved them. Their love will be the proof to the world that they are His disciples.

Application

Jesus’ commandment to His followers is that we are to love one another as He has loved us.

Jesus loved us so much that He laid down His life for our sake.

He loved me like that, and He loved my christian sisters and brothers like that.

To be a follower of Jesus means that I have to love them like Jesus loved them.

The bottom line for the christian life is to love each other with sacrificial, self-denying love.

The New Testament spells this out in different ways so that we shall know what love looks like.

The person with much money should share with those who have little. We should share the burden of those who are weighed down in any way. We should help to meet the needs of other believers.

This might look like buying a car for someone or cooking a casserole or mowing a lawn.

The remarkable thing is that when love becomes a habit, Jesus dwells among us.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to love all my christian brothers and sisters. I find it hard to show love to some people, so I ask for a special measure of your grace to do this. Amen.