The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, after communing with His disciples, He said some powerful words that would resonate with the disciples for the rest of their lives. He said:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)
From the tone of the words, it is not a suggestion but a command. You probably must have read or heard these words multiple times but do not think it is achievable. Here is the truth: his commandments are not burdensome; they are for our advantage. Despite this, some people find it hard to fulfill it. Could it be that you can’t give what you don’t have?
Some people are being taught that God’s love is with conditions, and with this misguided perception, we judge and mistreat other people.
This is the truth; His love is not based on how much good work you do. It is based on the sacrifice of His Son. My prayer is that your heart is open to God’s love. He loves us so much that He created us for His pleasure.
Revelation 4:11—Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure, they are and were created.
This is why we were created and still the reason for our creation. Adam and Eve were created by God for fellowship so that He can love them, and they can reciprocate His love.
When we focus only on what we can do for and by ourselves and not on what Jesus has done for us, we rob ourselves of this agape love that comes only from God. We might have harshly treated others because our attention is always on ourselves.
Romans 5:8 says, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
If God could love us while we were sinners, then His love can never be conditional. While our actions are important, God places greater emphasis on our hearts because out of it flows the issues of life.
When you understand how much God loves you, it becomes easy to love others and your behavior will change for the better towards them. We are easily identified as the disciples of Christ when we radiate the Love of God. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch because they saw the life of Christ in them.
No wonder Jesus summarized the law into two commandments according to Matthew 22:37-40.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like, unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
In conclusion, you can only love people to the extent to which you have experienced God’s love. So let God’s love flow through you.
