“A new Commandment I give unto you: That you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.”
John 13:34-35
He doesn’t leave it up to us to determine the standard or degree; instead, He clarified it by saying “As I have loved you.”
Don’t you hate it when the Lord Jesus gives you no wiggle-room with regards to His sayings? If He’d be just a little bit more ambiguous or unclear, we could say “Well, I didn’t quite understand what He meant.”
But, when He says “Love one another as I have loved you,” there’s no way to play dumb or dodge the Spirit’s bullet to the heart. The question then becomes, “Am I doing it? Am I loving others the way Jesus has loved me? Am I showing Grace and Mercy to others as it’s been shown unto me? Am I forgiving those who’ve ‘reviled me and persecuted me and said all manner of evil against me falsely’ as Jesus taught me to do (Mt. 5:11)? And am I loving the unlovable in response to Christ’s condescending Love that reached down to me that day when I was in the deep, miry clays of sin?”
Yes, dear Pilgrim, we’re “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20) when it comes to our unloving thoughts, words and deeds—especially when we claim to be a follower of Christ.
If Jesus has come to live within our hearts. . .and if we claim that He is Lord of our lives. . . than we MUST “love one another as He has loved us” or else our profession is nothing more than a show and sham.
The world could care less about our big buildings, stained-glass windows and towering steeples. They’re simply wanting to know if there’s anything to what we say and if our talk lines up with our walk.
That’s why Jesus said “This is how all men will know that you are My disciples: If you have love one to another.” Or, another way to put it is “How well are you getting along with each other? When you get together for worship are you one way on Sunday and another way on Monday-Saturday? Do you wear a ‘Sunday-go-to-meeting smile inside the church building, but have a devilish grin the rest of the week? Do you genuinely care about that one you call ‘Brother’ or ‘Sister’ or do you gossip about them, criticize them to others, inwardly loathe them, etc.?”
Truly, in Christ this is “Life’s Litmus Test” and the proof of genuine Love: “That you love one another as I have loved you and have Love one for another.”
So, how goes it, Pilgrim? Are you showing others the same type Love you’ve received from the Father? Are you demonstrating the type Love the Apostle Paul described in I Cor. 13? Are you “swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath” (James 1:19) or quick to criticize and long on holding onto grudges? Remember: We CANNOT be His disciples if we do not do what He says and go where He leads. Show He’s Lord. “Love others as He has loved you.”
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated November 14, 2010
