Love One Another
I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” John 13:34-35
These verses in scripture were one of Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples before he was taken, crucified, and resurrected. He knew what was about to happen, the pain and suffering He was about to endure yet He still instructed His followers to love one another. Christ came and disrupted what was always done. It is powerful and worthy of great consideration.
Let’s take a moment and really consider what was happening here. The command was to “love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.” How did He love them? He wasn’t focused on who they were, but rather who they were created to be. Regardless of their station in the world, regardless of their clothing, regardless of what they did before they met Him, regardless of where they were from.
He loved them by seeing who they designed to be. He disrupted whatever path they were on because He did not judge by outward appearance but rather saw as the Father sees and He saw their heart. Christ loved them by teaching them, walking with them, and then He sent them out to do the same. They went into the world teaching, preaching, healing, communing, and disrupting what had always been by doing what they saw Him do.
We have been given an incredible opportunity to learn, to see, to hear, and to understand who Christ is and why He was sent. Likewise, we have been given the ability to share that with others. To see them the way we have been seen. To love them the way we have been loved. My encouragement is- take the opportunity! When the opportunity arises to “love another and show unselfish concern”, take it.