“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (NIV)
While studying this passage recently, I was struck by a few things. First, this was table talk following the Last Supper after Judas had left. So Jesus was talking specifically to the disciples that would start His church. He was talking to us, the church.
Secondly, He said that this was a new commandment. What made it new and different from the first of the Ten Commandments? Jesus went on to say, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” That’s a tall order. Jesus was always kind, patient, forgiving and always thinking about the needs of His disciples.
Lastly, Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” We are identified as Christ-followers not by attending Bible studies, sharing the gospel, feeding the poor…but by the way we love one another within the church.
So how are we doing? How am I doing? If we really love one another, as Christ loves us, the church would look radically different than the world. The world is fraught with strife; filled with self-ambition, gossip, deceit, envy and greed. If we let love overcome strife within our hearts and within the church, the church will become a powerful magnet. A magnet that draws those who are battle-weary from the strife of the world to Christ, our loving head.
“Jesus, thank you for loving us. Sometimes loving others, even within the church, is hard. Help us, in increasing measure, to love one another as you have loved us.”
For His Glory,
Ann Skalaski
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