We’re supposed to love everybody. True love is a relationship between people. We couldn’t have the love we have for each other if not for the Lord. Before we were saved we didn’t have a lot in common. Jesus has put us together. In his family we are brothers and sisters and we experience family love.
Jesus commands us to love. These verses teach us how we should see ourselves and one another. The command to love involves so much. It’s a higher form of love that we didn’t know when we were unsaved. Even the closest of people who don’t know the Lord are missing something.
One of the blessings we receive trusting in Christ is this: it’s not a private thing we keep to ourselves. When we got saved we were introduced to a family we didn’t know. There is something about church that feels like home. You have a biological family but this is a Christian family. We’re getting a taste of what we’ll know fully in heaven. We have the capacity to give and receive love that defies understanding.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Now hold on to thinking you can get anything you want by just asking. We have to comply and heed to what follows verse 7 to 17. Love shouldn’t have an on/off switch. Love ought to be nonstop. It should remain and be steadfast. Love, hope, charity (love) remain and love connects it all. If we love things fall into place.
The best we can enjoy is realizing we follow Christ and he can be trusted. There is a connection. What is greater than having a best friend? Jesus is our friend. We read verse 13 and know we need never doubt the love of Jesus. It’s the greatest! He gave his life for us while we were still sinners. He looks to us as friends. He wants that friendship with us.
Loving each other is only as hard as we make it. We have a tendency to say that he/she did this or that and love on that basis. God commanded us to love so that means we CAN do it. Physical attraction is all that many consider now days. We see Jesus in each other and that creates the bond and makes us appreciate each other. It’s a blessing to have each other when we’re down.
We’ll be studying about the Lord till we get to heaven. What limits our knowledge doesn’t limit love. We continue to grow but we experience the fullness of Jesus’ love. It’s such an encouragement to know that he loves us and we can in turn love each other.
Did the disciples have problems after Jesus ascended? Yes. They clashed yet the fellowship and friendship was there. Through obeying the Lord they loved one another and left this world loving God and each other. We can too.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 