Love

 John 13:34 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 


Jesus's commandment here doesn't seem all that new at first glance. After all, Moses commanded us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Yet Jesus sets the bar even higher than Moses.

With Moses, the standard is self love. With Jesus, he himself is the standard of sacrificial love. We should be prepared to love people to death.

Jesus isn't just asking for one big act of sacrificial love, like his death on the cross. He is calling for us to daily die to self and put others first. Most importantly though we're to trust in his love, not our own.

We're not just to love those who love us. Any old pagan can do that. Jesus commands us to even love our enemies.

'Loving heavenly Father, we're so grateful for your love to us in Christ crucified for us. Help us to love like that, in his name, amen'.

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