Dear Church Family,
In my last devotion I mentioned “the ‘one another’ habits of a healthy church family.” A group to theologians did not assemble this list. They come straight from the Bible and have been given to train us “in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” per 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Today I will focus on the most important one in the list.
It should come as no surprise the command to love one another appears most often. Jesus gave the “new command” on what we call Maundy Thursday in the Upper Room to His disciples. He has told them He will be with them “only a little longer.” Read slowly what Jesus instructs them to do right after that, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”
Three major points jump out in those few words. First, by calling the command ‘new’ Jesus seeks to reorient their thinking. Who knows why the Old Testament did not have this command (as it has hundreds of others) or why did Jesus wait until the night before His death to state it. John Calvin opines that Jesus made it novel as if to say, “I wish you continually to remember this commandment, as if it had been a law but lately made.” Certainly the command to love runs counter to human nature that cares about self first and foremost.
Second, Jesus uses Himself as a model for how His disciples must love. Minutes earlier He had shown His love for them by doing the task of the lowest servant – washing their feet. Over three years Jesus patiently lived with them. They knew first-hand how He had loved them through His many acts of service to them and to those in need. In less than 24 hours they would see His greatest act of love as He died on the cross. At that point perhaps they remembered His words recorded in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Mad did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus teaches that true love requires costly service and self-sacrifice.
Third, while God’s people must never seek the praise of men, proof of being a follower of Jesus must be seen by others as we love other members of God’s family. We are not simply seen as being nice. I remain “pro-niceness.” We can love only because we have first been loved by God through the redemptive work of Jesus. As members of Christ’s body – the church – we have the privilege and duty to love each other.
You can find the command to love also in Romans 12:10; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12. As the Holy Spirit lives in us, we have the power to obey this command as well as the desire to do so. How will you love to one another today?
Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin