Wednesday, January 11, 2012

“A New Command”

“A new command I give you: Love one another.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another

John 13: 34-35 (NIV)



Jesus has just told the disciples that he will not be with them much longer. Simon Peter is distraught by the news.

Our Lord tells the disciples He is giving them a new way to look at each other. He tells them to ‘love one another.’ Jesus must have thought it important because He tells them three times.

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus serves the disciples in a humbling way-He washed their feet. After he finishes, Our Lord tells them they should do for another as He has done for them.

Another example of God’s love is the familiar passage, John 3:16. God gave something precious to us and for us because He loved us so much.

We are to do love others as Christ has loved us.

In our 21st Century world, we still read of our need to extend grace and mercy to those we meet. How do we manage to show God’s love to those around us? We do deeds of kindness when we see a need. We honor people’s positions and try not to betray another’s trust or cause a friend to do so, either. We respect boundaries others have set.

People watch what we do. Even those closest to us-our neighbors, those with whom we do business, and our family members monitor and evaluate our behavior. I once had to tell a lady she had mistakenly paid me for a story that was a simple e-mail forward. As we ended the conversation, she thanked me for my honesty and then added, “I would have expected nothing less from you.”

I once gave a negative verbal reference on a friend who used my name on a job application.  My thinking was she was not right for the job. She had too many personal issues in her life.The hiring lady wanted to hire her very much. The lady called the other reference, a relative of my friend for whom she had worked. In a matter of minutes my phone rang and my friend wanted to know when she offended me. She ended the conversation with, “If that is Christianity, then I want no part of it.” I called the hiring lady and let her know what had transpired. Because of what she did, I lost a friend. I also learned a lesson about life. We can do what we think God would want us to and still have to face issues because of our actions. But we must love others as God loved us.

2 comments:

  1. As Christ loved us... that is something so hard to grasp. I like to think about that scripture a bit more, really let it sink in.
    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marja:
    Thank you for your thought. I sometimes have to remember that God loves people who choose to live differently than I do. You are right, it is a lot to think about.

    ReplyDelete

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