“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34
How many times have we tried to control situations and engineer outcomes in life by using anger, displaying our attitudes, or using sarcasm to try to force our opinion on others, or get them to agree with us so we can have our own way? How did that work for you?
In John 13, Jesus spoke words of love and washed the disciples’ feet. In the same chapter, Judas decided to betray Jesus. The great dividing line that defines us as believers in Jesus, or sends us in direct opposition to Jesus – is LOVE; specifically, the God-kind of love!
Love is what separates the sheep from among the goats. Love is how the world identifies us as belonging to Jesus! Love is the seed we sow into others through words and actions that inspires change from the inside! Without love, all the faith, knowledge and wisdom of God we have is meaningless. Without love, all the gifts of the Spirit will profit us nothing! Without love we are nothing more than an irritation to a world who wants to see the real thing. Love opens doors that nothing else can because love opens hearts when nothing else can! God is the ultimate Door-Opener!
I believe it’s time for us to dig a little deeper and understand more fully what love really is, and renew our thinking concerning love. Love is not weak the way the word perceives it to be! Love is the nature of the most powerful Being in the universe! God’s love is pure power; but it’s never inappropriate or forceful. It rejoices in truth and hates iniquity. It doesn’t seek its own interests, but that of others… Just imagine what the world would be like if everyone walked in the God-kind of love! No wonder Jesus gave us the commandment to love!
There is something we might want to consider concerning this Covenant Commandment. Every Word of God comes with the ability in itself, to fulfill itself! So, when Jesus gave us this commandment, we can understand that the commandment came with its own empowerment to those who receive it. In truth, Jesus was commanding His love upon us to empower us. Thus, conferring the ability to love through His Commandment, given to us in order to fulfill itself in us. In other words, Jesus was commanding the law of love upon us, to empower us with His own love.
Paul wrote to the Galatians stating that, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” James called love the “royal law,” because it is how God operates, and those who operate in love will experience His power and presence working through them!
With Love,
Pastor Tom