John 13:34 - 35

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV). Jesus was with his disciples and was informing them that he was going to leave them and where he was going they could not come. It was during this conversation we find our verses.

The command to love one another is not new because we are instructed in Leviticus 19:18 to love our neighbor. What makes this commandment new is how we are to love. We are to love one another as Jesus loved. In Ephesians 5:3, Paul tells us that Jesus gave himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God. That sacrifice was payment for our salvation and sets the example that we are to be willing to sacrifice for the needs of others as an expression of our love for them. This commandment is new in that it joins love with sacrifice for the benefit of the one being loved.

Another way this may be a new commandment is in ability to love. Now by way of the Holy Spirit, God dwells within us and God is love. This provides us with the ability to love as Jesus did. This is a daily occurrence with Christians living under severe persecution; they can endure torture and still be able to express forgiveness to and love for those torturing them.

Prayer

Father, this is a time when we are able to love sacrificially, but is appears to also be a time when the love of many is growing cold. Father, stimulate us to be more intentional in maintaining a sacrificial love for others as Jesus did for us and as many who live under persecution do today.