PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: John 15:9-17
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
How does Jesus love us… this is what he is calling us to love like.
This is the kind of love that saves us, and the love we are saved for.
In a sense, love God and love each other are the whole Law of God (Matthew 22:34-40).
Every other command is just an application of this Law (Romans 13:8-10).
Loving each other with our words means not lying, slandering, gossiping, etc.
Loving each other with our actions means not bullying, assaulting, stealing, etc.
Paul simplifies it even more: ““Love does no harm to a neighbor.” (Romans 13:10)
If I loved that person (fill in the blank) like Jesus does, how would I treat them?
Are my words or actions causing them harm, hindering or hurting them?
Yes, this includes ‘sinners’ and ‘enemies’ and ‘strangers’… everyone!
I think we overcomplicate the Jesus Way with so many rules.
Our one focus ought to be discerning how can I help, not harm, my neighbour.
It’s really this simple, yet also this hard; we will need Jesus’s help to do this!
We may not always get it right, but the Lord knows what our motivation is.
PRAYER
Lord, thank you for living out God’s Law for me, and for writing God’s Law on my heart. Help me to make this Law my desire and motive for all I say and do!
“I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” The goal is knowing Jesus – therefore knowing the Father as well. How can I know him better? That’s where the law comes in – how scriptures reveal what living in close relationship with Jesus means. Jesus doesn’t want to tell me like a master telling a servant what to do – rather he wants me learn from him and then act accordingly – desiring to be like him, walk with him and to serve God and my neighbour in the same manner as he does. He invested in his disciples – he invest in me and trusts me to learn and grow in understanding – studying his word and meditating on it – helps me learn. Lord help me to act accordingly!
Love.
The gospel in one word is love and that love does no wrong.
I need to be an instrument of peace – a peace maker.
And that is a possibility only when I walk with the Lord.
Jesus Saviour pilot me each day anew. I need Thee every hour.
I need Thee every hour
Most gracious Lord
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford
I need Thee, O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now, my Savior
I come to Thee
I need Thee every hour
Stay Thou nearby
Temptations lose their power
When Thou art nigh
I need Thee, O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now, my Savior
I come to Thee