A NEW COMMAND TO HAVE A GREATER LOVE FOR OTHERS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
(John 13:34)

MEDITATION:
Can’t you just imagine what the disciples thought when Jesus said,
“I’m giving you a new command”?
Can’t you picture them thinking,
“Oh great, here is another command to add to a long list of commands”.

However, Jesus was not giving them a new command to ‘add’ to their list;
He was giving them a new command as a ‘replacement’ for a long list of commands.
Wouldn’t you expect them to be more receptive
to Jesus giving them a replacement instead of an addition?
They could have been thinking,
“This will be much better than trying to keep up with a long list of commands.”

And what was His command?
It was to, “Love one another”.
Now, let’s guess what the disciples may have been thinking at this point.
“Okay Jesus, we get it. You have been teaching us about love
the entire time we have been with You, so this isn’t really a new command.”

But look at the next statement from Jesus,
“As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
The first five words have suddenly made this
new command a serious challenge for the disciples.

First of all they needed to reflect on how the Lord has loved them.
Each one of them could remember when they first met Jesus
(what attracted them to Him, and why they chose to follow Him).

They could each think of instances
when Jesus had shown them (or others) an unusual love.
A love that is unconditional and not judgmental.
A love that is sincere and forgiving.
A love that is genuinely caring and concerned about the welfare of others.
A love driven by a desire to please the Father, instead of pleasing self.

In the blink of an eye, this brief statement about a new command
from Jesus, was in fact a command to become more like Him.
Jesus knew that in order to develop His characteristics,
they needed to start by learning how to love as He did.

When they could love in the same manner of Jesus, a foundation
for developing other characteristics like His would be created.
Why?
Because sincere love replaces selfishness with selflessness,
and Jesus was known for His selflessness.

It opens the door to things like giving instead of taking;
concern for others over a desire for self gratification
(in fact it creates a new area of pleasure found
through loving, encouraging, and praying for others).

We can all identify areas in our lives where we need help,
and Jesus wanted them (and us) to understand that when
we help others, we will in fact, be helping ourselves.
If we want encouragement, then we should encourage others.
If we want to be forgiven, then we need to practice forgiving others.

The list could go on and on, but in summary, if we want (really want)
to become more like Jesus, then we need to learn to love as He loves.
We need to develop a love
that is willing to sacrifice in order to benefit others.

ACTION:
What does loving like Jesus look like?
It could have many forms, but overall it means that we are willing
to ‘go out of our way’, and to ‘go against our natural tendencies’
in order to become a blessing to others.

For instance, we may have to squelch our frustration and anger
when others do things that do not “fit” into our way of doing things.
But it’s even more than that – we need to enjoy our differences,
instead of having disdain for others, or trying to change them.

When we can learn to love as Jesus does,
we will discover a new level of gratification
that we never expected, because underneath it all,
we will find joy in knowing that we are pleasing the Father.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, when I think of how Jesus loves and
the sacrifice He made for me, I realize the amount of
selfishness in my life. I can think of many “triggers”
that cause me to fail to love as He does. When I allow
these “triggers” to cause me to react naturally and not
spiritually, then I know I am falling short of loving as
Jesus does. I need the help of the Holy Spirit in my life
in order to make significant changes if I expect to love
as Jesus does and to develop other characteristics similar
to His. Forgive me for not making this ‘new command’
the driving force for all that I think, say, and do. Teach
me to love as Jesus does so that I can become a blessing
to others and be more pleasing to You.”