We are called to Love One Another
By Jason Doll
Jesus loved people. He loved sinners, thieves, prostitutes, tax collectors, poor people, diseased people, children and His followers. He loved people who were devoted to Him and those who were despised Him. He even loved those who wanted to kill Him.
And His love is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago.
Because we are loved by Him, we are called to love like Him.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:36, the greatest commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
As Christians, to keep our identity alive, we must know who we are in Christ; loving God and all others with all our heart, soul, and might. LOVE is the key!
Jesus tells us in John 13:34, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
In giving this command, Jesus did something the world had never seen before—He told us to do something that goes against our very nature when we are wronged or hurt— He, told us to Love.
See, the truth is: It’s not about you, it’s not about me – it’s about loving others!
Without love, nothing matters. It doesn’t matter what you say, what you do or what you give – without love, it is meaningless. We learn this is 1 Corinthians 13:2, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
I am nothing without love! You are nothing without love! Love is the key!
So, how do you express love for God? How do you show it to the world? By telling God, “I love You”? Going to church? Donating to a worthy cause? These are good things, but they only scratch the surface.
LOVE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! We must walk in divine love. When we live in love. Only then are we obedient to the will of the Lord. God must take FIRST PLACE in our lives and we no longer live for ourselves but for Him as Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
It's not about you, it’s not about me – it’s about loving others!
We show God we love Him through obedience because actions speak louder than words. Our desire
to follow and obey the Lord’s commandments increases as we increase our love for others. Christian love is giving to others those things that you would want them to give you if you were in their situation — and it’s doing so even if they can’t pay you back. In fact, it’s doing so especially if they can’t pay you back! Christian love is respect for others. It is action. It’s mercy.
In Greek, the word agape (God’s Love), is a selfless, giving love. God’s Love is unselfish and unconditional. Now we know what is meant by Christian love. Now we know what to strive for… agape love.
But, you can’t do it alone – You need God. You see, when you think that you are strong and don’t need God, He cannot help you. But when you need Him and look to Him, He will not leave you weak and helpless. He becomes the strength of your life. He becomes the breakthrough that you need. You need God’s strength and to have His strength, you need to love the Lord!
If we will truly give diligence to develop the love reflected by true agape love —toward God, among the brethren within the Church and toward those throughout the world around us—we will truly become “lights of the world,” showing the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. To love one another is to love fellow believers as Christ loves us.
God calls us to love others, just as He loves us.
We show love by forgiving those who have done us wrong.
We can only love others when we God's love is in us.
God doesn’t just tell us to love – He showed us the ultimate sacrifice of love, “to lay down one’s life” when he sacrificed His life to pay the world’s penalty by dying on the cross for each and every one of us. In His divinity, He saw the sins we would commit before we were even born. Yet, His love poured out to us before we even knew Him. That’s why Jesus is the only way to God and heaven.
You are called to LOVE! To love above all things.
Copyright © Jason Doll Ministries